IS targets pounded by air strikes over two days

39 coalition air strikes hit the Islamic State group (IS, formerly known as ISIS) on Thursday and Friday, including more than a dozen on IS positions near the northern Syrian town of Kobane.

13 strikes targeted the IS group in Kobane (also known as Ain al-Arab), which has been fought over by IS and Kurdish YPG forces since early September. The coalition, led by the US, said that 17 IS group fighting positions had been destroyed, as well as buildings, staging areas and a vehicle.

Four air strikes in the same area on Friday destroyed three IS group buildings and two vehicles in the area, the US-led coalition statement added.

An earlier report by the US Defense Department had erroneously claimed that all the strikes had occurred on Friday.

Kobane, which lies near the border with Turkey, has seen fierce fighting between the YPG and IS, and coalition air strikes, which began on September 23, have helped the Kurds in preventing the IS group from taking the town.

In Iraq, there were 20 air strikes, the statement said. 15 of these were on Thursday, and five were on Friday, mostly in Nineveh and Anbar.

The strikes destroyed an IS rocket system and vehicles, equipment, a mortar position, fighting position and a modular refinery.

The jets and drones also targeted the IS group tactical units and a checkpoint.

The IS group have occupied vast swathes of the two provinces, including the city of Mosul, which lies in Nineveh.