The U.S.-led coalition intensified its airstrikes on ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq -- but that may not be enough to stop the terror group's bloody march.

ISIS is closing in on the key Syrian Kurdish city of Kobani near the Turkish border, a civilian inside the city told CNN.

The terror group is 3 kilometers (nearly 2 miles) east of Kobani, the civilian said on the condition of anonymity, basically confirming a report from the London-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

If ISIS takes Kobani, it would control a complete swath of land from its self-declared capital of Raqqa to the Turkish border, more than 100 kilometers (more than 60 miles) away.

Residents of Kobani said they felt helpless, and terrified.

Despite airstrikes in the area, witnesses said the attacks are too few and too far back from the front lines to slow the momentum of the terror group.

"We need help. We need weapons. We need more effective airstrikes," Kobani official Idriss Nassan said. "If the situation stays like this, we will see a massacre. I can't imagine what will happen if ISIS gets inside Kobani."

The Observatory, whose information comes from a well-established network of activists, doctors and civilians across parts of Syria, said Monday that ISIS fighters were about 5 kilometers to the east and southeast of Kobani, also known as Ayn al Arab.

"My question is: why don't you attack ISIS near Kobani," said Rami Abdulrahman, founder and director of the Observatory.

The U.S. military believes the ongoing bombing campaign in Syria has degraded ISIS command and control capabilities, according to a briefing to reporters by Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, assistant deputy chief of staff for the Air Force.

There is evidence that ISiS is unable to amass troops, he said.

The Air Force reports that its F-22s are achieving good results not just by dropping bombs, but by keeping an eye out for anything being fired from the ground.

About three-fourths of the airstrikes in Iraq have been carried out by the U.S. Air Force, which is also responsible for about half of the strikes in Syria.

(CNN)