LATEST: Video — Syrian Army Operations Against Islamic State on Saqer Island in Eastern Syria

THURSDAY FEATURES

Turkey Daily: Ankara Proposes Safe Havens in Syria from Mediterranean to Iraq Border
Obama Administration — “We Will Not Work with Insurgents Against Islamic State”

UPDATE 1245 GMT: A Kurdish official has said that the Islamic State is being pushed out of parts of Kobane.

Idriss Nassan, deputy head of Kobane’s foreign relations committee, told the BBC:

Maybe in the few past days the [Islamic State] was controlling about 40% of the city of Kobane, but now…less than 20% of the city is under [their] control….

[The Kurdish militia] YPG started cleaning [up] operations in the east and south-east of Kobane.

UPDATE 0655 GMT: US and Kurdish officials have given conflicting accounts of the effectiveness of Kurdish ground support for escalating American airstrikes near Kobane.

A “senior Defense Department official” said that a system had been devised for Kurdish fighters to help US mission planners pinpoint Islamic State targets. He said the guidance was corroborated with satellite and drone imagery, electronic intercepts, and other intelligence.

However, Omar Alloush, a Kurdish official in Kobani, said the coordination was flawed. He cited the deaths of five Kurdish fighters on Tuesday night — a US airstrike, which took place later than expected, hit the group as they moved toward a building occupied by the Islamic State.

The US military has declared that its airstrikes have killed several hundred Islamic State fighters near the Kurdish center of Kobane in northern Syria, but says the situation in the town is “still fluid”.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said 21 attacks were carried out on Wednesday, bringing the total to 39 in 48 hours.

Kirby said, “We know we’ve killed several hundred of them.” He said the airstrikes had hurt the Islamic State’s ability to move forces and maintain their offensive: “It’s not like they have a whole heck of a lot of ability to reconstitute that.”

However, he warned that the Islamic State was far from defeated: “The more they want [Kobane], the more resources they apply to it, the more targets we have to hit….As the weather improves, I think…you’ll see continued pressure applied as appropriate and as we’re able to.”

Kirby said the situation inside Kobane was “still fluid”, with Kurdish forces largely in control but the Islamic State still holding pockets, more than a week after it entered the town.

“As the weather improves, I think … you’ll see continued pressure applied as appropriate and as we’re able to,” he said.

Video: Syrian Army Operations Against Islamic State on Saqer Island in Eastern Syria

Footage of the Syrian military pursuing operations against the Islamic State on Saqer Island (Hawija Saqer) in Deir Ez Zor Province in eastern Syria:

Video: Kafranbel Protest — “You Are Ignoring Assad as Source of Terrorism”

The residents of Kafranbel in northwest Syria, known for their Friday protests, send a message to the US on a Thursday:

Kafranbel also makes another pointed comparison between the US approach to the Assad regime and the US approach to the Islamic State:

Video: Insurgents Hold Out in Damascus Area of Jobar

Insurgents maintain their resistance to regime attacks on Jobar in northeast Damascus:

The Syrian military has tried for weeks to overrun the area, with a sustained, heavy bombardment and ground assaults.

State news agency SANA proclaims this morning, “Terrorism in Jobar on Its Last Legs“, with the military destroying insurgent tunnels and trenches.

However, Damascus-based activists say more than 100 regime troops were killed in fighting on Wednesday.

Jobar is a key base of operations for insurgents, who can strike from the district into areas in Damascus such as Abbasid Square: