US-led strikes kill more than 500 militants in Syria

US-led air strikes in Syria were reported today to have killed more than 500 jihadists in a month, as Kurdish fighters readied to reinforce the embattled border town of Kobane.
An AFP correspondent across the frontier in Turkey reported fierce clashes and fresh air raids in Kobane, with heavy gun and mortar fire rocking its western side in the evening.
The Islamic State (IS) group, which on June 29 declared a "caliphate" over territory it seized in Iraq and Syria, was on today described as the world's wealthiest "terror" group, earning USD 1 million a day from oil sales alone.

The battle for Kobane has become crucial for both IS and its opponents, with a senior US official this week saying that the Kurds there were inflicting heavy losses on the jihadist group.
The Kurds have been holding out against IS jihadists for more than a month, buoyed in recent days by a promise of Iraqi Kurd reinforcements and by US air drops of weapons.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today that 200 Iraqi Kurd peshmerga fighters would travel through his country to join the battle in Kobane, where IS has an estimated 1,000 militants.

Warplanes were again heard flying over Kobane and at least three air strikes were carried out today, a month after the US-led coalition expanded its aerial campaign against IS in Iraq to Syria.

The air strikes have killed 553 people since their launch, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, including 464 IS fighters and 57 militants from the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Nusra Front.
Thirty-two civilians have also been killed, including six children and five women, said the Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a wide network of sources inside Syria. The "vast majority" of jihadists killed were foreigners.
After first focussing on Iraq, the US-led coalition has dramatically expanded its strikes in Syria recently, including in Kobane.
The US military said in its latest update that fresh coalition raids near the town destroyed IS fighting positions, a vehicle and a jihadist command and control centre.

In Iraq, air strikes hit IS targets including fighting positions, a vehicle and a training centre.
David Cohen, the US undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence who has been leading the fight against IS on the financial front, said today that its "primary funding tactics enable it today to generate tens of millions of dollars per month".