U.S.-led Coalition Jets Strike ISIL Positions in Kobane

U.S.-led coalition jets pounded Islamic State targets in Kobane on Saturday. There were a total of six airstrikes against ISIL today. Earlier in the day the Islamic State shelled the city’s center and hit border areas within Turkey.

YPG Kurdish fighters, with help of U.S.-led strikes, are holding out against the Islamic State for more than a month of valiant defense of their city. Kobane is already being compared to Stalingrad and that city’s heroic defense against the Nazis. 

ISIL’s shelling of border areas with Turkey appears to be an attempt to cut off Kobane’s last link with Turkey.

“They want to cut off Kobane’s connection with the rest of the world,” said Dicle, an YPG spokesperson. “Turkey is not allowing in fighters or weapons, but they send aid at Mursitpar (border crossing). The Islamic State wants to destroy this gate so that we will be completely trapped here.” (Reuters, 18 October)

Photo credit: Smoke and flames rise over Kobane after U.S.-led airstrike against Islamic State positions in the city. The photo is taken from Muritpinar border crossing. (Reuters)    

Airstrikes Destroy ISIL Buildings in Kobane

18 airstrikes on ISIL position in Kobane today destroyed 16 ISIL-occupied buildings. Today’s attacks bring the total number of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes against ISIL positions in Kobane to 39, CENTCOM reported.

There are reports in the social media today that some ISIL insurgents, under heavy bombardment by U.S.-led coalition air forces, are fleeing Kobane toward Raqqa, the Islamic State's base in Syria.

File photo: Kurdish fighters inside Kobane (Hasan Kirmizitas/DHA)

Airstrikes Have Taken Out Most of ISIL Oil Production

Revenues Down to Around $500,000 a Day

 

The U.S.-led coalition airstrikes on Islamic State’s oil production and refinery operations have caused major losses for the insurgents. The International Energy Agency reported today that the bombing runs have taken out most of ISIL’s oil production. (Reuters/qz.com, 15 October)

ISIL still controls fields capable of producing 20,000 barrels of oil a day, along with some small refineries that can process it into fuel, the IAEA says. With the falling oil prices, ISIL is also probably selling its oil in the black market at lower rate than last month. If its oil goes for around $20/barrel, their current income could be around $500,000 a day, much less than the estimates of $1-2 million a day over the summer.

Still to be hit are ISIL-controlled oil fields at Najma and Qayara (south of Mosul on the map), Himreen (south of Kirkuk) and Balad (north of Baghdad). Together they continue to produce about 10,000 barrels a day.

Map credit: Oil and gas fields in Iraqi, Kurdish and Syrian regions (Reuters)

Obama Meets Foreign Chiefs of Defense

Fight against ISIL Will be a ‘Long-Term Campaign’ 

The fight against ISIL will be a “long-term campaign,” President Barack Obama told a gathering of 21 foreign chiefs of defense at Andrews Joint Base today. The meeting, organized by Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, was to coordinate strategies in the efforts against ISIL. There are no “quick fixes,” Obama said. But with 60 countries contributing to the coalition, President Obama added, the world is untied against the terrorist group. (DoD News, 14 October)

The foreign nations represented in today’s meeting included Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.

Photos above: President Obama meeting international military leaders; Joint Base Andrews, 14 October 2014 (DoD News)

UPDATE: Photo below: Military leaders attending the meeting hosted by GEN Martin Dempsey (center front row) 

Allen to Spearhead Recreation of ‘Awakening’

U.S. State Department said on Wednesday that retired Marine Gen. John Allen, who is coordinating the international coalition efforts against the Islamic State, was en route to the region to engage Sunni tribal leaders in the fight.

The Washington Times, quoting unnamed sources, reports that the plan is to recreate the “Sunni Awakening” that saw Iraqi tribal leaders take the fight to Islamic State predecessor group, Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), between 2005 and 2007. Gen. Allen helped organize the Awakening uprising while serving in Anbar at the time.

Creating a new Awakening is essential to sustaining gains made by recent U.S.-led airstrikes. The effort will also involve building a provincial guard force in western Iraq that could enlist local residents, dominated by Sunni Arabs. (The Washington Times, 2 October)

Meanwhile on Syria, Gen. Allen told CNN that it will take years to train moderate Syrian rebel forces to fight effectively against the Islamic State.

“It is going to take a while. It could take years, actually… And so we have to manage our expectations,” Allan said on training Syrian rebels. (CNN/The Hill, 2 October)

File photo: Marine Gen. John Allen, 2012 (ISAF)

GCC, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, U.S. Issue Joint Communique on ISIL

Jeddah Communique; September 11, 2014

The following is the Jeddah Communique from the ministers representing states of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and the United States. (Source: Department of Sate)

“The ministers representing states of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and the United States declared their shared commitment to stand united against the threat posed by all terrorism, including the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), to the region and the world.

The participants hailed the formation of the new, inclusive Iraqi Government and expressed their support for the immediate steps it has pledged to take to advance the interests of all Iraq’s citizens, regardless of religion, sect or ethnicity.

The participants resolved to strengthen their support for the new Iraqi Government in its efforts to unite all Iraqis in combatting ISIL and discussed a strategy to destroy ISIL wherever it is, including in both Iraq and Syria.

The participants confirmed their commitment to implement UN Security Council Resolution 2170, and noted the Arab League Resolution 7804 of September 7, 2014, as well as the discussion of ISIL at the NATO Summit in Wales. The Ministers affirmed their strong commitment to continue the effort to eliminate global terrorism.

The participating states agreed to do their share in the comprehensive fight against ISIL, including: stopping the flow of foreign fighters through neighboring countries, countering financing of ISIL and other violent extremists, repudiating their hateful ideology, ending impunity and bringing perpetrators to justice, contributing to humanitarian relief efforts, assisting with the reconstruction and rehabilitation of communities brutalized by ISIL, supporting states that face the most acute ISIL threat, and, as appropriate, joining in the many aspects of a coordinated military campaign against ISIL.

Participants emphasized that the role played by regional states is central to this effort.”

Photo credit: Arab leaders with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry; Jeddah, 11 September 2014 (AFP)

Gen. Allen to Coordinate International Alliance against ISIL

Retired Marine General John Allen, former commander in Afghanistan, will coordinate the emerging international alliance against the Islamic State, AP reported today. (AP/The Military Times, 11 September)

Allen will work with nearly 40 nations around the world that have so far joined the alliance in the fight against ISIL, coordinating what each contribute to the fight.

Gen. Allen comes to the job with vast experience coordinating international allies on the warfront. He was in Anbar province from 2006 to 2008, working with Arab partners in organizing the Sunni uprising against al-Qaida in Iraq, the forerunner to today’s ISIL. He has also served as deputy commander at CENTCOM, and from 2011 to 2013 as commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan. He has also worked closely with key military leaders, including General Lloyd Austin, the commander of CENTCOM, who will oversee the U.S. military campaign.

File photo: General John Allen during an interview with AP in Kabul; 22 July 2012 (Musadeq Sadeq/The Associated Press)