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US Airdrops Arms, Medical Aid for Kurdish Defenders in Kobani: Centcom

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US warplanes have airdropped weapons, ammunition and medical supplies for Kurdish troops defending the Syrian border town of Kobani against advancing Islamic State (IS) insurgents, the US Central Command said early Monday.

MOSCOW, October 20 (RIA Novosti) - US warplanes have airdropped weapons, ammunition and medical supplies for Kurdish troops defending the Syrian border town of Kobani against advancing Islamic State (IS) insurgents, the US Central Command said early Monday.

On Sunday night, several C-130 aircraft brought "weapons, ammunition and medical supplies that were provided by Kurdish authorities in Iraq and intended to enable continued resistance against ISIL's attempts to overtake Kobani," Reuters cited the Central Command as saying in a statement.

The Command said it had carried out 135 airstrikes near the besieged Kurdish city on the border with Turkey, slowing IS offensive and killing hundreds of its fighters. It stressed, however, that security "remains fragile" in Kobani.

Washington has called on Turkey to help Syrian Kurds, however Ankara has so far been reluctant to act for fear that armaments could fall into the hands of the local Kurdish PKK party it considers a terrorist organization.

The Islamic State is a Sunni extremist group that has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, it launched an offensive in Iraq, seizing vast areas in both countries and announcing the establishment of an Islamic caliphate on the territories under its control.

In September, Washington announced the formation of an international coalition to fight extremists and extended its airstrikes against the militants into Syria, while continuing strikes against the group's targets in Iraq.

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