Islamic State Fighters Acknowledge Defeat in Syrian Town of Kobane

Members of the Islamic State group have acknowledged for the first time that they were defeated in the Syrian town of Kobane.

In a video released by the pro-IS Aamaq News Agency on Friday, two fighters said airstrikes by the US-led coalition were the main reason why they were forced to withdraw from Kobane.

On Monday, activists and Kurdish officials said the town was cleared of IS fighters, who once held nearly half of the town.

The failure to capture Kobane was a major blow to the extremists, whose hopes for an easy victory dissolved into a costly siege under withering airstrikes by coalition forces and an assault by Kurdish militiamen.