U.S. Steps Up Strikes on Embattled Syrian Town, Aided by Data From Kurds
Eric Schmitt and Kareem Fahim
New York Times, October 16, 2014
WASHINGTON — The United States has sharply increased the number of airstrikes against Islamic State militants in the besieged Syrian city of Kobani — aided by information provided by Kurdish fighters, American officials said Wednesday.
A Pentagon spokesman said that the airstrikes had killed “several hundred” Islamic State fighters. Kurdish officials said the intensified attacks had allowed them to regain territory and push the militants back on several fronts, after fears rose last week that the city would be overrun.
Yet in a sign of the perils of the intensified bombing campaign, five Kurdish fighters were killed late Tuesday — possibly because they had advanced too close to one of the airstrikes.
A spokesman for the United States Central Command, Maj. Curtis J. Kellogg, said American officials had “no evidence indicating Kurdish fighters were killed in a coalition airstrike last night. Regardless, we take such reports seriously and will look into them further.”
The United States military has carried out 37 airstrikes in Kobani since Monday, according to the Pentagon. The attacks — several visible from across the border in Turkey on Wednesday as they slammed into sections in the north and west of the city — blasted what officials described as several Islamic State positions and 16 buildings that had been occupied by the militants.
Explosions rock Syrian town of Kobani
The U.S.-led coalition launches fresh air strikes on Islamic State in and around Kobani. Rough Cut (no reporter narration)Publish Date October 15, 2014. Photo by Reuters.
In Washington, Defense Department officials attributed the increase in airstrikes in and around Kobani to a surge of Islamic State fighters who presented more targets for coalition warplanes; bad weather in Iraq that diverted combat planes in Kobani; and a secret new system in which Syrian Kurdish fighters feed target information to allied war planners.
Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said the Islamic State’s strong desire to seize the city, where he said only a few hundred civilians remained, was the chief reason airstrikes had increased over the past few days.
“The more they want it, the more resources they apply to it, the more targets we have to hit,” Admiral Kirby told reporters.
When asked about reports that Kurdish fighters in Kobani were providing the coordinates of Islamic State targets, Admiral Kirby replied, “I don’t have anything specific to talk about with respect to coordination.”
But another senior Defense Department official confirmed that in recent days, a system had been devised that allowed Kurdish fighters to help American mission planners pinpoint Islamic State targets. The official, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive information, said that guidance was corroborated with satellite and drone imagery, electronic intercepts and other intelligence.
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“It’s one more piece of intelligence,” the official said.
But Omar Alloush, a Kurdish official in Kobani, said that the coordination between Kurdish fighters and the coalition was flawed, citing the deaths of the five Kurdish fighters in what he said was the first accident of its kind since the bombing campaign got underway.
Mr. Alloush said that on Tuesday night, Kurdish fighters who had been involved in heavy clashes with a group of Islamic State militants moved toward a building occupied by the militants — even though the coordinates for the building had been provided to coalition officials.
An airstrike followed, but came later than expected, Mr. Alloush said, destroying the building and the area around it. The bodies of the Kurdish fighters were found along with those of “many” Islamic State militants, he added.
“This signifies weak communication,” Mr. Alloush added.
It was impossible to immediately determine what had killed the fighters. Walat Omar, a doctor working in Kobani who received the bodies at a field hospital, said they were badly mangled. The victims included three men and two women, he added.
Even with the increased airstrikes, Admiral Kirby warned the situation remained uncertain in the embattled city. “Kobani could still fall,” he said.
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