control of the syrian border town against kurdish forces. isis recently used a british hostage to make a false claim about its control for kobani. >> it is coming to an end. they are mopping up now. >> reporter: in reality, they say isis is losing. and controls less than 50% of kobani. nick peyton walsh traveled there and captured these scenes. but a key question after three months of air strikes by the u.s. and its allies why hasn't isis been driven completely out of kobani? >> the problem is the air strikes came too late. this allowed the islamic state to get in the city. once you get fighters inside of a city it is hard for air power to dig them out. if they can hide, even if the building doesn't provide any protection, it provides concealment. >> reporter: a pentagon official tells cnn, the air strikes have impacted the ability of isis to