US-Led Coalition Planes Hit IS Oil Sites In Syria, Iraq

Kurdish Syrian refugees fleeing an Islamic State offensive carry their belongings after crossing the Turkish-Syrian border, near the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province on September 26

U.S.-led warplanes have hit more oil sites in Syria used by Islamic State (IS) militants as fighting by Iraqi security forces and insurgents also took place in Iraq's western Anbar Province.

The coalition air raids destroyed three makeshift oil refineries in Syria on September 28 near the town of Tal Abyad, near the Turkish border town of Akcakale.

Meanwhile in Anbar, IS-led gunmen seized three districts in the main city of Ramadi on September 28.

Fierce clashes between security forces and Islamic gunmen were also reported in Fallujah, where 13 civilians were reported killed.

But militants were repelled in an attempt to seize Amiriya and adjacent areas outside of Fallujah, where Iraqi officials said 12 Islamic fighters were killed by air strikes.

Clashes were also reported in Saqlawiya and Garma.

Meanwhile, in Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama says that his country's intelligence services had initially underestimated activity inside Syria by Islamic State (IS) militants.

In an interview with CBS that will be broadcast later on September 28, Obama cited similar comments by James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence.

Obama said the chaos of the Syrian civil war had left huge areas of the country virtually ungoverned and allowed Islamic militants to "reconstitute themselves."

He added that the United States had overestimated the ability of the Iraqi Army to fight militant groups.

IS fighters have killed thousands of people and forced hundreds of thousands of others to flee their homes as they have captured parts of Iraq and Syria.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters