United States conducted multiple airdrops near Syrian border to resupply Kurdish forces

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Defence & Security News - United States

 
 
Tuesday, October 21, 2014 10:03 AM
 
United States conducted multiple airdrops near Syrian border to resupply Kurdish forces.
The U.S. military conducted multiple airdrops near the Syrian border town of Kobani on Sunday evening to resupply Kurdish ground forces defending the city against Islamic State (IS) militants, the U.S. Central Command said Monday, October 20, 2014.
     
The U.S. military conducted multiple airdrops near the Syrian border town of Kobani on Sunday evening to resupply Kurdish ground forces defending the city against Islamic State (IS) militants, the U.S. Central Command said Monday, October 20, 2014.
A U.S. Air Force C-130, like the one pictured, airdropped weapons, ammunition and medical supplies to Syrian Kurds fighting to defend the town of Kobane, Syria, from Islamic State control.
     

A C-130 military transport aircraft delivered weapons, ammunition and medical supplies that were provided by Kurdish authorities in Iraq and intended to enable continued resistance against the IS' attempts to overtake Kobani, the command said in a statement.

All aircraft left the airdrop zone safely, the statement said.

The airdrops were conducted in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, aimed at degrading and defeating the IS and the threat it has posed to the region and the wider international community, it said.

According to the statement, U.S. forces have so far conducted more than 135 airstrikes against IS targets in Kobani.

"These strikes have slowed ISIL advances into the city, killed hundreds of the terrorist group's fighters and destroyed or damaged scores of pieces of combat equipment and fighting positions," the statement said, referring to the group by its previous name, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Meanwhile, the U.S. Central Command noted that the security situation in Kobani remains fragile and the city still could fall.

The U.S. military began an air campaign against IS targets in Iraq in August and expanded its strikes to Syria in September with the objective of ultimately degrading and destroying the extremist group.