ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US-led coalition resumed airstrikes in the besieged Syrian border town of Kobane on Monday, hitting several targets in areas controlled by the Islamic State, according to witnesses. Several powerful strikes hit Islamic State (ISIS) targets in central-eastern parts of the city at 4:15pm on Monday, in blasts that could be heard, felt, and seen from kilometers away as enormous plumes of smoke rose above the city. The strikes follow a weekend of intense airstrikes in the city, where witnesses reported seven airstrikes early Sunday morning alone. Meanwhile a combined force of Peshmerga and Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) fighters continued fighting in the south of the city and along a key road to Aleppo, where they have recently begun offensive operations. Peshmerga units have provided artillery and heavy weapon cover for YPG and western-backed rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters since they entered the town at the end of October. FSA troops arrived days earlier to relieve the embattled Kurdish fighters, who were the only ground forces defending the city since the siege began in mid-September. “YPG forces tell us that ISIS attacks have been less threatening since we are using heavy weapons in our attacks, ” Abdul Qahar Dosky, a Peshmerga commander told Rudaw via telephone. “The understanding between the Peshmerga and the YPG is very good and we have high morale.” Omer Kalo, a reporter on the Turkish side of the border, said that “young Kobane residents are returning to fight, but not families. The city remains very dangerous.” On Sunday the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human rights estimated that 1153 people had been killed in Kobane since the siege began. 712 of these casualties were ISIS fighters, and the group believes the actual number may be even higher because of the “absolute secrecy” about deaths among their ranks. No Peshmerga have been reported dead thus far, and the Observatory says that 16 Syrian rebels and almost 400 YPG and Syrian Kurdish police have been killed in over two months of fighting.
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