U.S.-led airstrikes pounded ISIS targets around the besieged Syrian border city of Kobani early Wednesday, part of a ramped-up campaign to save the town along Turkey’s border from militant clutches. ISIS has been locked in increasingly bloody battles with Kurdish fighters for control of the town. The offensive has sent floods of refugees across the border into Turkey and sparked warnings of an impending massacre.
U.S. Central Command said Wednesday that aircraft from the anti-ISIS coalition launched six airstrikes in the area of Kobani, taking out a number of ISIS vehicles and artillery pieces. Two other airstrikes struck an ISIS training camp near the militant stronghold of Raqqa while a third destroyed a tank nearer Iraq’s border, Central Command added in a statement. It did not say how many ISIS fighters were killed. Central Command said that U.S. aircraft — along with British and Dutch jets — also launched five airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq. Targets struck included an ISIS checkpoint and an armed vehicle, it said, noting that one airstrike against another ISIS vehicle was not successful.
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