Islamic State: United States launches ten more air strikes in Syria and Iraq with help of coalition partners
Updated 28 September 2014, 7:00 AEST
The United States says it has carried out 10 more air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq with the help of coalition partners.
A US defence official said there have been "near continuous" combat sorties in Syria. (Credit: AFP)
The strikes hit seven targets in Syria, including an IS building and two armed vehicles at the border crossing in the besieged Kurdish town of Ain al-Arab, also known as Kobane, US Central Command said.
However, the latest attacks failed to stop IS fighters from continuing their assault on the strategic town on the Turkish border, which was hit with shell fire from IS for the first time on Saturday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group that supports opposition forces fighting Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, said 40 Kurdish militia had been killed in the past five days of heavy fighting in the area.
It said some of the Kurdish casualties were caused by a suicide bomber who drove into the western outskirts of the town in a vehicle disguised to look as though it was carrying humanitarian aid.
US Central Command said its other targets in Syria included IS vehicles and buildings near Al-Hasakah, as well as an IS command and control facility near Minbej, near the western limit of the group's control.
"An ISIL-held airfield, an ISIL garrison and an ISIL training camp near Raqqa were damaged," it said, using an alternate acronym for the terrorist group.
The jihadists have made Raqqa, also known as Ayn al-Arab, the headquarters of the "caliphate" they declared in June straddling swathes of Iraq and Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday's air strikes set off more than 30 explosions in Raqqa, where casualties were reported.
But it said IS was still able to shell eastern parts of the town, wounding several people, in a sign that its fighters were drawing closer.
The air strikes were carried out by US Air Force and Navy aircraft as well as by warplanes from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
British fighter jets in first mission over Iraq
In Iraq, three air strikes were conducted south-west of Erbil, destroying four armed vehicles and a fighting position.
Coalition against Islamic State
Find out more about the 12 key countries in the coalition against Islamic State militants and where they stand.
British fighter jets also flew over Iraq on their first mission since parliament approved action against the militants, although on this occasion the Ministry of Defence said they did not carry out any air strikes.
The US and Arab allies began air strikes against IS in northern and eastern Syria on Tuesday, more than a month after Washington started its air war on the jihadists in Iraq.
The campaign is aimed at "degrading and destroying" the militants.
Washington had been reluctant to intervene in Syria, but acted after the jihadists captured more territory, ordered Shiites and non-Muslims to convert or die and committed widespread atrocities, including beheading three Western hostages.
A US defence official on Friday said the Syria mission was now similar to US-led air raids against the IS group in Iraq, with "near continuous" combat sorties.
The latest strikes came while Prime Minister Tony Abbott returned to Australia for Cabinet talks that could see Australian forces join the war against IS militants in Iraq.
Turkey signals it may play active role against IS
The jihadist advance has sent 160,000 refugees streaming into Turkey.
This appears to have prompted a shift in the attitude of Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan who said for the first time that Turkish troops could be used to help set up a secure zone in Syria, if there was international agreement to establish one as a haven for those fleeing the fighting.
Turkey has so far declined to take a frontline role in the US-led coalition against IS, but Mr Erdogan told the Hurriyet newspaper: "The logic that assumes Turkey would not take a position militarily is wrong".
He said negotiations were underway on which countries would be involved in air strikes and a potential ground operation and Turkey was ready to take part.
Kobane sits on a road linking north and north-western Syria.
IS militants were repulsed by local forces, backed by Kurdish fighters from Turkey, when they tried to take it in July, and that failure has so far prevented them from consolidating their gains in the region.
Reuters/AFP
* Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan says Turkish troops could be used in Syria
* Kurdish forces battle IS fighters over Turkish border town
* Kurds bus to besieged Syrian town to fight IS
* UN reports a rise of 24pc in asylum seeker numbers
* Australia to decide on IS strike mission within days
* Mounting world conflicts a concern, UN chief warns leaders
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