A US airstrike in Kobane.
A US airstrike in Kobane.Reuters

U.S. warplanes hit Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists with 18 bombing raids near the Syrian town of Kobani Wednesday and Tuesday, to support besieged Kurdish militia there, Central Command said, according to AFP.

The latest raids targeted several ISIS positions and 16 buildings occupied by the group, the military said.

U.S. fighter jets and attack aircraft also bombed ISIS militants in Iraq, carrying out five air raids in the past 24 hours, it said, according to AFP.

One strike in Iraq near the Haditha dam destroyed an ISIS armed vehicle and a guard shack while four other strikes near Baiji destroyed a building, a Humvee and a machine gun and damaged an ISIS artillery piece, said Central Command, which oversees the air war.

With the battle for Kobani the center of world attention, U.S. forces have stepped up bombing raids against the ISIS group around the town in recent days.

Central Command reported 21 strikes Monday and Tuesday, saying there were signs the ISIS' advance on the town had slowed.

A British-based monitoring group told AFP fighting was concentrated on the former Kurdish military headquarters in northern Kobani, which ISIS seized Friday.

Earlier this week, ISIS achieved yet another major victory – taking over the beleaguered city of Heet on the edge of Anbar province in Iraq.

ISIS was able to enter the city, on the western side of the Euphrates river, after Iraqi troops withdrew.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)