Ramped-Up Airstrikes Stall IS Advance in Kobani

U.S.-led coalition jets bombed Islamic State targets again Saturday in Syria as the militants stepped up their fight to take the key border city of Kobani from Kurdish defenders.

The tempo of U.S.-led airstrikes has increased dramatically, with U.S. fighter craft on Friday launching six airstrikes on Islamic State positions near the border enclave, the U.S. military said. A top Kobani city official tells the Associated Press that coalition airstrikes have slowed down Islamic State, but says air power is not enough. He says Kurdish fighters need more weapons and ammunition.

Coalition forces launched at least five airstrikes in Kobani and more on Islamic State targets in Iraq. Additional Islamic State targets were hit in the same area on Wednesday and Thursday after U.S. fighter and bomber planes carried out 14 raids against the militant group.

The militants have intensified their shelling of Kobani, and several rounds dropped across the border inside Turkey.

Strategic point

Turkish and U.S. officials said last week that Islamic State fighters were on the verge of taking Kobani from its heavily outgunned Kurdish defenders, after seizing strategic points deep inside the town.

The four-week Islamic State assault has been seen as a test of U.S. President Barack Obama's airstrike strategy, and Kurdish leaders said the town cannot survive without arms and ammunition reaching the defenders, something neighboring Turkey has so far refused to allow.

The Islamic State group has been keen to take the town to consolidate its position in northern Syria after seizing large amounts of territory in the country and in Iraq.

A defeat of Islamic State militants in Kobani would be a major setback for the Islamists and a boost for the U.S.-led, anti-IS coalition.

The coalition has been bombing Islamic State targets in Iraq since August and extended the campaign to Syria in September.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of sources on the ground, says Islamic State set off two booby-trapped vehicles in Kobani. It did not give any casualty figures.

The observatory also says coalition airstrikes on two oil facilities have killed seven civilians in eastern Syria. The U.S. often targets gas facilities in militant-controlled areas to cut off a supply of revenue. The U.S. has not commented on the reported civilian deaths.

Iraq strikes; memorials

Meanwhile, Iraqi state television reports that Iraqi airstrikes have killed 60 Islamic State fighters in Al-Anbar province.

Also Saturday, the family of British aid worker David Haines, who was beheaded by Islamic State last month, held a memorial service in Scotland. Mourners also honored another aid worker kidnapped and murdered by the militants, Alan Henning.

Islamic State had also beheaded two U.S. journalists — James Foley and Steven Sotloff. The militants say they killed the four Westerners to avenge U.S.-led airstrikes. But many leading Muslim officials condemned militants, calling the murders un-Islamic.