WASHINGTON — A wave of coalition airstrikes on Wednesday helped blunt an Islamic State offensive on Kobani, the besieged city on the Syrian-Turkish border where Kurdish forces are holding out against the militants.
The battle is not over. Rear Adm. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, acknowledged the Syrian border town could fall to the militants despite the bombings.
"Air power alone is not going to be enough to save Kobani," he said Wednesday.
The fighting in Kobani comes amid mounting worries about the effectiveness of the U.S.-led air campaign, which has failed to loosen the militants' hold on territory in Iraq and Syria or prevent the Islamic State from taking new areas.
President Obama met Wednesday at the Pentagon about the military strategy against the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS, among other issues.
"This is not something that is going to be solved overnight," Obama said after the briefing.
U.S. military leaders have said from the start that the campaign will take time and require an effective ground force in Syria to be successful. Airstrikes can disrupt the Islamic State, but only ground troops can move in and take territory.
"We've been very honest about the limits of air power," Kirby said.
Building an effective ground force will take time. The Pentagon has said it will be able to train about 5,000 troops in the region a year. The training and vetting has not started, the Pentagon said.
Until a ground force is prepared to seize territory, the initial strikes in Syria have focused on targeting the Islamic State's ability to sustain itself or supply rebels in neighboring Iraq. Airstrikes have hit mobile oil refineries and command-and-control headquarters, for example.
"Notwithstanding the crisis in Kobani, the original targets of our efforts have been the command-and-control centers, the infrastructure," Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday.
"As horrific as it is to watch in real time what's happening in Kobani, it's also important to remember that you have to step back and understand the strategic objective and where we have begun over the course of the last weeks," Kerry said.
The Pentagon said the military has come to the aid of the Kurdish forces trying to defend Kobani.
Coalition warplanes launched eight airstrikes Wednesday near Kobani, according to U.S. Central Command.
"We're doing everything we can from the air," Kirby said. "It's not like we ignored this crisis around the town of Kobani."
U.S. officials travel to Turkey on Thursday to discuss their role in countering the Islamic State.
Turkey has expressed support for the U.S.-led effort but remains reluctant to provide military support as the forces defending Kobani from the Islamic State siege are Kurdish, and Turkey has been battling a Kurdish insurgency for independence inside its borders.
A huge plume of smoke rises after an airstrike in eastern Kobani, Syria, as fighting intensified between Syrian Kurds and the Islamic State militants Oct. 8.(Photo: Lefteris Pitarakis, AP)
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