Extremists of the Islamic State suffered heavy losses in today's battles for the Syrian city of Kobani, and battles with jihadists continue in Iraq.
The new appointments of senior security officials in those countries have met with positive evaluations by the US.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said the appointments of the defense and interior secretaries after weeks of delays represented a "very positive step forward" in the fight against ISIL in Iraq.
US-led coalition aircraft continued airstrikes on jihadist positions around Kobani, a northern Syrian city on the border with Turkey, today in support of the city's Kurdish defenders in an effort to thwart a new attempt by ISIL to cut off supply routes.
Kurdish fighters, who have been under attack from ISIL for more than a month, fought fierce street battles today, but the first line of defense remains intact, a Kurdish official said, adding that at least two jihadist suicide bombings were reported.
"(ISIL) brought reinforcements...and attacked fiercely," said Idris Nasen in a telephone conversation with AFP.
"But thanks to the airstrikes and the (Kurdish fighters') response, they did not make any progress," Nasen pointed out.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in London, 31 jihadists were killed in the fighting from Saturday to Sunday morning.
15 were killed in coalition airstrikes, and 16 in street fighting, including two suicide bombers, while seven fighters were killed on the Kurdish side.
In the past four days, the bodies of at least 70 ISIL extremists have been transferred to a morgue in the city of Tel Abyad, medical officials and eyewitnesses said.
The US military has said there are encouraging signs in the battle for Kobani, but that the strikes may not prevent the fall of the city, and that their priority remains the fight against ISIL in Iraq.
Washington expressed satisfaction with the Iraqi parliament's decision yesterday to fill the remaining cabinet posts, including appointing a Sunni as defense minister and a Shia as interior minister.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has announced that he will go to Tehran tomorrow to discuss the continuation of the fight against ISIL with his other key ally.
Jihadists are well entrenched in parts of Iraq and Syria, where they declared an Islamic caliphate in June.
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