The U.S.-led coalition has been hitting the area around Kobani with the highest number of strikes since launching the bombing campaign in Syria more than three weeks ago. It remains unclear if the strikes will stop ISIS fighters from capturing the mainly Kurdish town. ISIS has seized about half of Kobani, and the United Nations has warned of a massacre if they take full control. The strikes come days after the Obama administration appeared to distance itself from defending Kobani, saying it was not a “strategic objective.” Speaking at the State Department, Special Envoy Gen. John Allen said the United States is focused on providing humanitarian aid there, while stopping the ISIS advance in Iraq’s Anbar province.

Gen. John Allen: “We’re actually focusing, obviously, around Kobani, providing airstrikes to provide humanitarian assistance and relief there, obviously, to give some time to the fighters to organize on the ground. But in the Anbar province, our hope is to stop or halt that tactical initiative and momentum that they have there.”