DefenceTalkIslamic State jihadists are having to spend more effort defending key supply lines in Iraq due to US-led air strikes and pressure from local forces, the Pentagon said Friday. The IS group’s supply routes into Iraq from neighboring Syria have become a central focus of combat, with Iraqi government and Kurdish forces — along with […]https://www.defencetalk.com/is-forced-to-defend-supply-lines-in-iraq-us-61841/

DefenceTalkThe US military is reviewing several incidents in which civilians may have been killed in coalition air strikes against Islamic State jihadists in Iraq and Syria, officials said Tuesday. The comments marked the first time the US military has acknowledged that the air war may have exacted a toll on civilians. US Central Command, which […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-led-strikes-may-have-killed-civilians-pentagon-61307/

DefenceTalkAfter more than two months of air strikes, a US-led coalition has prevented the fall of a northern Syrian town to Islamic State jihadists but is still struggling to halt the group’s advances on other fronts, experts say. Since the air war on the IS militants began on August 8, the United States and its […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-struggles-to-turn-the-tide-in-war-against-is-60859/

DefenceTalkOne bundle of weapons and medical supplies airdropped by U.S. forces to Kurdish fighters in Syria most likely fell into enemy hands, a Pentagon spokesman said today. The pallet was among 28 that were dropped by U.S. forces Oct. 19 to resupply Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/one-airdrop-to-kurds-fighting-in-kobani-intercepted-60817/

DefenceTalkThe strategy against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is working, but degrading and destroying the terror group will require “strategic patience,” Army Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III said today. Austin, the commander of U.S. Central Command, told reporters at the Pentagon that Iraq remains the focus of operations for his command and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/anti-isis-strategy-working-needs-patience-austin-says-60792/

DefenceTalkBritain will shortly begin re-deploying its unmanned armed drones from Afghanistan to counter Islamic State jihadists in Iraq, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told parliament on Thursday. The remotely-piloted Reaper aircraft will provide surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence support to the Iraqi troops and international coalition forces taking on the IS group in northern Iraq. The drones […]https://www.defencetalk.com/britain-to-re-deploy-drones-from-afghanistan-to-iraq-60775/

DefenceTalkU.S. and Saudi Arabian military forces conducted eight airstrikes on Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant targets in Syria yesterday and today, U.S. Central Command officials reported. Four airstrikes southwest of Kobani struck a large ISIL unit and a small ISIL unit, damaged an ISIL staging location and destroyed an ISIL heavy-machine-gun firing position. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-saudi-arabia-conduct-airstrikes-against-isil-in-syria-60753/

DefenceTalkUS military advisors are likely to take a more direct role in the ground campaign against jihadists in Iraq once Iraqi forces are ready to go on the offensive, the top US officer said in comments aired Sunday. General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he had not yet encountered […]https://www.defencetalk.com/future-ground-role-for-us-military-advisors-in-iraq-likely-dempsey-60745/

DefenceTalkUS Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday it was ultimately up to Iraqis to fight back against the Islamic State group advancing in Iraq despite US-led airstrikes. “Over time we believe that the strategy will build, the capacity will build, Daesh will become more isolated,” he said, referring to the jihadist IS by […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iraqis-will-have-to-fight-is-to-win-back-country-60743/

DefenceTalkAdvancing Islamic State fighters seized a third of the Syrian border town of Kobane Thursday despite US-led air strikes, as Turkey rejected sending troops in against the jihadists on its own. In fighting that killed dozens, calls grew for ground action to support Kobane’s beleaguered Kurdish defenders. But after talks with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/isis-advances-in-kobane-as-turkey-rejects-solo-ground-action-60733/