KURDISH officials fighting to defend the city of Kobane from Islamic State (Isis) said they were co-ordinating with the US military, which is launching air strikes at the terror group.

Kurdish Democratic Union Party spokesman Nawaf Khalil made the announcement as US Middle East commander General Lloyd Austin bragged that his forces had taken out “large numbers” of Isis fighters pouring into the Kobane area.

“Islamic State militants have made Kobane their main effort,” he claimed, although Isis has gained dramatic successes in western Iraq simultaneously with its assault on the Kurdish town.

Its forces have taken almost every town in Iraq’s Anbar province and were only 20 miles from Baghdad yesterday.

And reports that defecting Iraqi pilots are now training Isis fighters to fly captured Syrian warplanes could add considerably to its killing power.