Kurds regain control of Kobani

Kurdish fighters' expulsion of Islamic State forces from the Syrian town of Kobani helped stop the momentum of the Islamist group but is not a significant turning point in the overall campaign, a senior State Department official said.

The setback for Islamic State in the war-ravaged town near the Turkish border did not mean "anyone is declaring mission accomplished" in the international campaign against the group, that has taken over parts of Syria and Iraq, the official said.

U.S. air strikes in liaison with Kurdish ground troops and Iraqi Kurd reinforcements allowed in from Turkey tipped the battle the Kurds' way, and the Islamic State's appetite for the fight had been undermined by heavy death tolls.

"About 90 percent of the town has been retaken and ISIL, whether on order or the fact that they are just breaking ranks, are withdrawing from the town," the official told reporters, employing a frequently used acronym for the al Qaeda offshoot. (REUTERS)

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