The airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria are effective, but will not destroy the group, Pentagon spokeswoman Cmdr. Elissa Smith told RIA Novosti Tuesday.
“Our airstrikes have been effective in achieving our goal of degrading and ultimately destroying ISIL[ISIS],” Cmdr. Smith said in a statement.
“This isn’t going to be solved through airstrikes or military power alone. There has to be more to this than just airstrikes. It doesn’t mean that the airstrikes aren’t important, that they won’t continue or that they aren’t being effective. What it does mean is that airstrikes are just one piece of a much larger strategy that’s going to take some time,” the Pentagon press officer said.
The ISIS, has made recent gains on the north Syrian town of Kobani, also known as Ayn al-Arab, and in Iraq’s Anbar Province.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Tuesday that airstrikes were helping fight off the ISIS who are laying siege to Ayn al-Arab.
“We’re assisting them by doing the air strikes that we have undergone over the past several days. Certainly we’ve seen that has been useful, not only there but in Iraq and other places we’ve done them,” she said.
Turkey’s president said on Tuesday Kobani was on the verge of falling to the ISIS after a nearly three-week battle with Kurdish fighters.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that the group would take control of the area along the Syria-Turkey border unless ground troops countered the offensive.
The new United Nations envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura on Tuesday demanded immediate and “concrete” action from the international community.
“The world, all of us, will regret deeply if ISIS is able to take over a city which has defended itself with courage but is close to not being able to do so. We need to act now,” he said.
Based on reports by RAI Novosti and Voice of America
