US launches 23 air strikes against Isis in Syria and Iraq …

A man watches US airstrikes aimed at Isis forces from a hill in Sanliurfa province, Turkey, on the Syrian border, 24 October 2014. Photograph: Jodi Hilton/NurPhoto/Corbis

The US and allies staged 23 air strikes on Islamic State (Isis) targets in Syria and Iraq on Thursday, the Combined Joint Task Force said on Friday.

The strikes followed a confirmed total of 29 strikes in Syria and Iraq on Wednesday, New Years Eve.

The task force said a dozen strikes near the Syrian cities of Kobani, Raqqa and Hasakah destroyed Isis vehicles, buildings and fighting positions and also hit a large Isis unit.

Activist groups, meanwhile, reported strikes on and around Raqqa, the de facto Isis capital. An anti-Isis activist group called Raqqa is Silently Being Slaughtered reported at least 13 coalition strikes and said the Furoussiyeh area and the Division 17 military base were among the targets hit.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees activist collective also confirmed the air raids.

In Iraq, the Combined Joint Task Force said 11 strikes targeted Isis units, buildings, vehicles, equipment, a shipping container and a weapons cache near the cities of Taji, Asad, Fallujah, Baiji, Qaim and Mosul.

Isis fighters have taken control of parts of Syria and Iraq in a bloody campaign to establish an Islamic caliphate.

Strikes against Isis in Iraq began on 8 August and in Syria on 23 September. On 24 December, Isis captured a Jordanian pilot whose F-16 came down during a coalition mission.

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