Military officials: U.S.-led airstrikes focus on Kobani, Syria

According to the U.S. military, U.S.-led forces have launched 12 airstrikes since Friday against Islamic State militants in Kobani and Syria.

Reuters reported that the strikes near Kobani destroyed several of its fighting positions and hit two large Islamic State units. The Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement that the airstrikes also destroyed an Islamic State building and a tactical unit. A strike near Syria destroyed two guard facilities.

In addition, U.S. and allies launched three airstrikes in Iraq, destroying two militant vehicles, two Islamic State fighting positions and an ISIS controlled bridge.

Since August, U.S.-led airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State militants have damaged or destroyed over 3,200 targets. According to the Pentagon, this includes 58 tanks, 184 Humvees, 673 fighting positions and 980 buildings or barracks.

Pentagon spokesman Army Colonel Steve Warren said he was unsure how many targets had been damaged versus destroyed, “but I’m confident that the destruction level is high. Our strikes are extraordinarily accurate.”

As of Tuesday, the Pentagon stated that U.S. and coalition air forces had conducted nearly 1,700 airstrikes and had used over 4,700 munitions.

According to Reuters, the release of the target damage list came a day after U.S. defense officials confirmed that they are investigating reports of civilians casualties caused by the strikes. Several have thus far have been found non-credible but a few have been deemed valid so far. Investigators are still determining the credibility of a few others.

Warren declined to say what percentage of Islamic State equipment has been destroyed.

“In order for us to do that we would have to release to you the exact number of tanks we believe the enemy has, the exact number of Humvees we believe the enemy has,” he said. “We don’t want our enemy to know how much we know about them.”

The Humvees destroyed were U.S. vehicles supplied to the Iraqi military but were later captured by militants. It was unclear if any of the tanks were U.S.-made.

Countries whose forces have participated in the strikes in Iraq are Australia, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France and the Netherlands. The ones participating in the airstrikes in Syria include Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.