Two days of intensified coalition air strikes have stalled the Islamic State's lethal advance in the Syrian town of Kobani, the United States military's Central Command said Thursday.

In what is considered the heaviest aerial bombardment of Islamic State (ISIS) positions in Kobani yet, the U.S.-led coalition carried out 14 airstrikes near Syria's border with Turkey over the last 48 hours.

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Just last week, U.S. officials and the heavily outgunned Kurdish militiamen defending Kobani reported that the besieged town is on the verge of falling to ISIS control. The announcement came after reports that the insurgents have seized key areas within the city.

The increase in attacks over the last two days, however, has halted the group's anticipated massacre of the fighters and residents still trapped in the town. Kurdish fighters said they have managed to retake territories, Reuters reported.

On Thursday, the U.S. State Department said U.S. officials held talks with Kurdish defenders for the first time. Reuters said the Kurdish fighters were giving the air strike commanders coordinates to ISIS positions in town.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group that has been at the forefront of tracking the developments of the Syrian air strikes, Kurdish militiamen and ISIS fighters exchanged overnight fire on Wednesday. The next day, the Kurds claimed back a territory ISIS has held in recent weeks.

Abdulrahman Gok, a journalist reporting from the city, told Reuters that airstrikes have allowed the Kurdish defenders to make offensive attacks against the jihadists for the first time since the siege began a month ago. He said, however, that Kurdish officials are in need of more weapons to sustain the city's defense.

The Kobani siege is an acid test for the coalition's military strategy against the Islamist group that has caused massive destabilization in the region after seizing territories in Iraq and Syria last year.

President Barack Obama and the 40-nation's air strategy will suffer a massive blow if Kobani falls to ISIS control. Meanwhile, Islamic State fighters are keen to overrun Kobani as it would consolidate the Syrian and Iraq territories it has so far managed to capture.

Tagspolitics, War Conflict, Fertile Crescent, Asia, Kurdish People