Kurdish fighters holding the Syrian border town of Kobani got a break Wednesday as airstrikes by U.S. and Emirati aircraft helped them push back Islamic State of Iraq and Syria fighters besieging the town.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the airstrikes killed 40 Islamic State fighters and forced them to pull back.
The U.S. Central Command said six strikes by manned aircraft and drones in and around the town had destroyed several armored vehicles and artillery pieces used by the Islamist extremist group.
The fate of Kobani, which sits on Syria’s border with Turkey between areas controlled by the Islamic State, is seen as a test of whether President Obama’s strategy to combat the extremists in Syria is working. Though bombing by the U.S.-led coalition has helped Kurdish fighters hold the town, the fighting has exposed a fault line between Washington and Turkey, a key U.S. ally.
Turkish troops have massed on the border within easy striking distance of the town, but Ankara has held back, demanding that the coalition’s strategy for Syria include a plan to get rid of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Turkish officials also are concerned about the reported presence among the Kurdish fighters of the PKK, a Kurdish guerrilla group that has battled Ankara for autonomy.
In the face of Turkish resistance, U.S. officials have remained optimistic that diplomatic efforts will bring them into the coalition.
“It is our view that there is a clear interest that Turkey has in working with the international coalition — or international community — to deal with the threat that’s posed by [the Islamic State], notwithstanding whatever other political interests they may have there,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday.
