LOC18:58
15:58 GMT
WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (KUNA) -- With Syrian Kurds pleading for help as forces with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) bear down on Kobani, a border town between Turkey and Syria, a Pentagon spokesman on Tuesday said airstrikes continue to put "a lot of pressure" there.
Last night there were 19 airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, of which 10 were in Syria, and most of those were in and around Kobani, Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a CNN "New Day" interview.
But coalition forces need to be careful and discreet, Kirby said.
"We do not want to cause any collateral damage or any civilian casualties as well," he said. "So hitting these guys from the air is a risky business, and it is something that we want to take due care and caution as we do it."
"We continue to put pressure on ISIL, and we are doing a lot of that from the air, but they are also getting pressure on the ground from Iraqi Security Forces and Kurdish forces as well inside Iraq," Kirby said.
"But make no mistake, and we have been real honest about this: Airstrikes alone are not going to be enough. They do put pressure on them, they do force them to change their tactics and communications a little bit, but we are not fooling ourselves; we know that airstrikes alone are not going to be enough to completely eliminate this threat."
There is not a lot of coordination and communication right now with opposition fighters on the ground, but the opposition groups are not monolithic -- they do not have a command and control structure, Kirby said.
"One of the reasons why we want to start this train and equip program, and hopefully get that up and started soon here and in Saudi Arabia, is to get the moderate opposition a little bit better organized and to get them better led, help introduce some basic communication and military skills that they need that would help us coordinate with them better," Kirby said. "We are just not there yet. It is a very immature process."
ISIL has been using Raqqa as sort of a headquarters, and with airstrikes there, "I think they are trying to move," Kirby said. "They are certainly trying to disperse, but it is unclear right now if Kobani is the next hub that they are going after." (end)
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