US-Led Coalition Launches 12 Airstrikes on IS Targets: Defense Department

The US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) conducted 12 airstrikes on militants positions in Syria and Iraq.

MOSCOW, January 6 (Sputnik) — The US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) has launched 12 airstrikes on the group in Syria and Iraq, destroying its tactical units and strategic property, the US Department of Defense (DoD) said in a statement Tuesday.

“Fighter and bomber aircraft conducted 10 airstrikes in Syria … Remotely piloted and attack aircraft conducted two airstrikes in Iraq,” the statement posted on the DoD website reads.

According to the statement, the airstrikes destroyed fighting positions, buildings, armored vehicles and tactical units of the extremist group. An airstrike also targeted IS tanks near the Syrian city of Raqqah, largely controlled by the militant group.

US and partner-nation military forces continue to attack Islamic State of Iraq, Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq. http://t.co/c6Isv83R4A

— U.S. Dept of Defense (@DeptofDefense) January 6, 2015

Eight of the airstrikes took place in the Syria-Turkey border city of Kobani, a key IS battleground. Meanwhile, aided by the coalitions airstrikes, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in Kobani continued their ground offense against the militant group, which is trying to maintain its control of the city.

According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, US-led coalition airstrikes have killed over 1,000 people, among them at least 50 civilians, in the last three months.

The IS radical Sunni group began fighting the Syrian government in 2012, later expanding its operations to Iraq. The militant group has declared a caliphate on the territories under its control in both countries.