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Islamic State (IS) militants on Wednesday came closer to seizing control of Syrian Kurdish town Kobane and the Iraqi town Amriyat al-Fallujah, as the US warned that the fight against the group will be long and arduous.
Kurdish militia have been able to resist the IS press in Kobane thanks to help from US-led air strikes, which seem to be getting less effective with every passing day, as calls for NATO-member Turkey to send ground forces to the nearby town continue to grow.
In Iraq, extremists from the IS closed in on Amriyat al-Fallujah, one of the last regime-controlled town in the province of Anbar.
US President Barack Obama warned that the IS has the “tactical momentum”, and told his Arab and western allies that they are facing a “long-term campaign”.
“There are not quick fixes involved. We’re still at the early stages”, Obama said after a meeting with senior commanders from over twenty ally nations involved in the aerial campaign.
“As with any military effort, there will be days of progress and there are going to be periods of setback”, Obama said.
He also expressed his concern for Kobane, which has become a symbolic battleground in the fight against the group, and about stopping their progress in Iraq’s Anbar province.
On Wednesday, four US-led air strikes were reportedly launched on extremists in Kobane; Monday and Tuesday saw 21 coalition air strikes launched at the militants.
According to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, the fighting was concentrated near the former Kurdish headquarters in the town, which was seized by the IS on Friday. According to the monitor, four coalition air strikes had targeted IS positions in the town during the night, including the captured headquarters. It added that Kurdish forces retook two IS positions near their former headquarters and pushed the militants to the western part of town.
