Washington, Oct 18, (RHC), – While Kurdish forces continue to make more gains in their battle against ISIL militants, a top US military commander says it is “highly possible” that the Syrian border city of Kobani could fall into the hands of ISIL terrorists.
On Friday, General Lloyd Austin, the head of the US Central Command, said Syria’s northern city of Kobani, could still fall to the ISIL militants despite stiff resistance by Kurdish forces.
The top US general also said ISIL operations are focused on Kobani as the terrorists seek to expand the territories they have under control in Syria and Iraq.
“In my assessment, the enemy has made a decision to make Kobani its main effort,” said the American commander, adding that the group has continued to pour militants into the troubled Syrian city in recent days.
This is while on Friday, a Kurdish military commander, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Kurdish fighters had managed to force out the ISIL militants from most parts of Kobani. He expressed optimism about the possibility of liberating the entire city in the near future.
The senior US military official also pointed to ISIL operations in Iraq and said Iraqi armed forces were “incrementally” recapturing ground from the Islamists.
Meanwhile in another alarming report from Syria, the Islamic State (IS) terror group is said to be in possession of three war jets ready to fly and maneuver in northern Syria.
The ISIL fighters are in possession of three war jets believed to be MiG-21 and MiG-23, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
It said that ISIL fighters, many of whom are former Iraqi officers from infamous Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime, are training other experienced IS fighters to fly the war jets, which had been captured by the Islamic State from Syrian military bases in the provinces of Raqqa and Aleppo in northern Syria.
