ISIS jihadis suffer heavy losses in Syrian battleground of Kobane

Airstrikes hit 20 ISIS fighting positions; 31 jihadists killed; Spain to train Iraqis against ISIS

Mursitpinar, ( Turkey)/ Washington, Oct. 19: The ISIS group was taking heavy losses in the Syrian battleground of Kobane Sunday as Iraqi forces fought the jihadists buoyed by US backing for top government security appointments.

US secretary of state John Kerry said the appointment of defence and interior ministers after weeks of delay was a “very positive step forward” in the fightback against ISIS in Iraq, which Washington has made its priority.

But US- led warplanes launched 11 airstrikes near Kobane on Saturday and Sunday, US Central Command said, helping the town’s Kurdish defenders to repulse a new attempt to cut their supply lines into Turkey.

Meanwhile, Spain will begin training Iraqi forces later in 2014 to battle ISIS fighters but has ruled out taking part in ground operations in Syria, officials have said.

Defence minister Pedro Morenes made the announcement in Washington, where he met Friday with US defence secretary Chuck Hagel.

The Kurdish fighters, who have been under ISIS assault for more than a month, weathered fierce street fighting and at least two jihadist suicide bombings but the front line remained unchanged on Sunday, a Kurdish official said.

“( ISIS) brought in reinforcements... And attacked hard,” Idris Nassen told AFP by telephone.

“But thanks to airstrikes and ( the Kurdish fighters’) response, they did not make any progress.”

The ISIS fighters suffered heavy losses in Kobane, which has become a key prize as it is being fought under the gaze of the world’s press massed just over the border in Turkey.

From Saturday into Sunday morning, a total of 31 jihadists died in the battle, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Coalition airstrikes near Kobane hit 20 ISIS fighting positions, five ISIS vehicles and two ISIS- held buildings, said Central Command, with the Observatory adding that they killed 15 jihadists.

Clashes on the ground killed another 16 jihadists and seven Kurdish fighters, said the Britain- based Observatory, which has a wide network of sources inside Syria.

A steady flow of bodies from the Kobane fighting have arrived at an ISIS- controlled hospital further east, the Observatory said. The corpses of at least 70 jihadists had been brought into the mortuary in the town of Tal Abyad in the past four days.

The US military has said it sees “encouraging” signs in the battle for Kobane, although it warns the town may still fall. — AFP

— AFP, AP An image grab ( above, left) taken from a video uploaded on Sunday by Aamaq News Agency, a Youtube channel which posts videos from areas under ISIS control, allegedly shows ISIS militants taking shooting positions in the town of Kobane, on the Syria-...

— AP Fighter jets fly over Kobane, Syria, during fighting between Syrian Kurds and the militants of ISIS group, as seen from a hilltop on the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey- Syria border, on Sunday.