islamic state militants have acknowledged for the first time that they have been defeated in the syrian town of kobani, blaming withering airstrikes by a u.s.-led coalition for forcing them to flee the town on the turkish border.









although not a strategic site itself, kobani <u+2014> known by the militants as ayn al-islam <u+2014> had turned into a test of wills between the militants and the coalition. at one point, islamic state fighters controlled almost all of the town of 45,000 people and were on the verge of capturing it outright.









in a video released late friday by the pro-islamic state aamaq news agency, two fighters made it clear that the coalition's relentless air assault proved too much for the militants.









"a while ago, we retreated a bit from ayn al-islam because of the bombardment and the killing of some brothers," said one masked fighter who spoke arabic with a north african accent.









in the video, he vowed to return to drive out the people's protection units known as the ypg, the main kurdish militia in syria, that the fighter referred to as "rats."









"the islamic state will stay. say that to (president) obama," he said, pointing toward destruction on the edge of kobani.









a second fighter, standing on a road with a green sign sprayed with the name ayn al-islam, described the incessant pounding by coalition aircraft.









"i swear by god, their planes did not leave the air, day and night; they did airstrikes all day and night," he said on the video. "they bombarded everything, even motorcycles; they have not left a building standing. but, god willing, we will return and we will have our revenge multiplied."









speaking at a meeting with his mexican and canadian counterparts in boston on saturday, secretary of state john kerry said recapturing kobani was a "big deal," afp reported.









"we have a long way to go in the overall campaign, but daesh <u+2014> isil as some know it <u+2014> has said all along that kobani was a real symbolic and strategic objective," kerry said. "so pushing them out of there is a big deal. and make no mistake, we will also use the same tools that we used to get there <u+2014> the tools of cooperation and support <u+2014> to defeat violent, transnational criminal organizations, and ensure that the rule of law thrives for all of our people."









the islamic state launched its offensive on the region surrounding kobani in mid-september, capturing more than 300 kurdish villages and parts of the city while driving out more than 200,000 kurds.









the united states and several arab allies began striking back and providing air cover for kurdish militia to pour in from turkey. the overall allied campaign aims to roll back the islamic state militants who have taken over about a third of iraq and syria and declared the captured territory a new caliphate.









as a result of the airstrikes and stiff resistance from the kurds, the islamic state <u+2014> also known as isil or isis <u+2014> began retreating a few weeks ago and lost more than 1,000 fighters, according to the london-based syrian observatory for human rights, which monitors deaths in the syrian civil war.









in the last days of the fight, activists reported that the militant group was sending inexperienced fighters and teenagers to the front line because of a lack of recruits, the human rights group said. by monday, activists and kurdish officials reported the town was almost cleared of the militants.









the four-month battle for kobani, which was pummeled by airstrikes, mutual shelling and booby-trapped vehicles, left large parts of the town city uninhabitable, the syrian observatory for human rights said.









"it's not a city anymore," bulent kilic a turkish photojournalist for the afp news agency told time. "i saw all the bombs that were dropped on kobani during this battle. and there's only debris left, especially in the eastern part of the town from where isis tried to get in."
islamic state admits defeat in kobani; blames airstrikes
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