Islamic State makes ‘substantial gains’ in Iraq

Obama rallies coalition against jihadists

A BARRAGE of US-led airstrikes in and around the Syrian city of Kobane, including 39 over the past two days, has killed hundreds of Islamic State fighters and has stiffened the city’s Kurdish defenders, the Pentagon’s spokesman said Wednesday.

Offering an unusually detailed description of the fighting, Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters that all but “hundreds” of civilians have evacuated the city and that increasing numbers of Islamic State group fighters are flowing in.
“One of the reasons why you’re seeing more strikes there is because there is more ISIL there,” Kirby said, using a common acronym for the extremist group. Their greater numbers are providing more targets for US bombs, he said.
“It’s hard to give an exact number, but we believe that we have killed several hundred ISIL fighters,” he added. He did not specify a time period; airstrikes there began October 1, according to US Central Command, which announced Wednesday that it had launched 18 airstrikes near Kobani over the previous 24 hours, following a barrage of 21 strikes there the previous 24 hours.
Kirby said Kobane remains in danger of falling to the Islamic State fighters, who are intently focused on the city.
“These guys want to grab ground. They want territory,” he said. “Kobane is a territory they want.”
Central Command said the latest airstrikes by American bombers and fighter jets destroyed multiple Islamic State fighting positions in the Kobane area. It said the strikes also hit 16 buildings there occupied by the militants.

Bombing continues ... Smoke rises after US air strikes on the town of Kobane. Source: AFP

The ISIS movements worrying the West:

ISLAMIC State jihadists have made crucial advances in Iraq, causing concern among the US-led coalition forces, which have not been able to halt ISIS’s gains with weeks of deadly missile attacks.
It was clear the ISIS group “has made substantial gains in Iraq” and it would take time to build up local forces that could defeat them in Syria and Iraq, John Allen, a retired four-star US general, told reporters.
The Iraqi government and Kurdish forces have halted or pushed back IS militants in some places, including around Mosul dam, but the group has “tactical momentum” in other areas, Mr Allen said.
OUTLAW BIKERS FIGHT IS IN IRAQ
Although the United States and its allies were carrying out air raids in both Syria and Iraq, Mr Allen acknowledged the international coalition was most concerned with the situation in Iraq.

Gaining momentum ... Islamic State militants parade down a main street Mosul, Iraq, in a commandeered Iraqi security forces armoured vehicle. Picture: AP Photo Source: AP

There, IS fighters have seized much of the western Anbar province and are closing in on the region west of the capital Baghdad.
“The emergency in Iraq right now is foremost in our thinking,” Mr Allen said, admitting that it was too early to say which side had the upper hand.
“I’d be careful about assigning a winner — winner or a loser,” said Mr Allen, the former commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan.

A member of the Iraqi security forces fires ammo in the Kadhimiyah area of Baghdad during the funeral procession of Iraqi member of parliament who was killed the previous day by an ISIS suicide bombing. Source: AFP

Speaking after a tour of the Middle East in which Mr Allen addressed coalition partners and Iraqi leaders, the presidential envoy emphasised that military power alone would not be enough to defeat the ISIS group — a point often made by the White House.
Mr Allen said “the key and the main takeaway from this trip was that we all agree that while the military side is important to the outcome, it is not sufficient in and of itself.” At the moment the plan was “to take those steps that are necessary, with the forces that we have available and the air power that we have at our fingertips” to buy time to train and arm Iraqi security forces.

Smoke rises ... a US-led air strike on the Syrian town of Ain al-Arab, known as Kobane by the Kurds. Picture: AFP PHOTO/ARIS MESSINIS Source: AFP

The goal was to give Iraq’s new Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi “the opportunity to build a stable government that is inclusive.” US officials have repeatedly urged Baghdad to reach out to Iraq’s alienated Sunni population and blame the Shiite-led government for sowing resentment that was exploited by the jihadists.
Pentagon officials have said privately that Turkey is ready to grant access to some of its air bases to assist the coalition campaign against the IS militants, but details of the deal remain unclear.
Mr Allen shed no light on what kind of arrangement Turkey had agreed to but denied Ankara was a reluctant partner in the fight.
He said “they want to understand how they’ll fit into the program and how ultimately the coalition would operate out of Turkey.” A team drawn from the US military’s Central Command and European command was in Turkey “talking about operational details,” he said.