Kurdish fighters have halted a thrust by Islamic State jihadists towards the heart of the Syrian border town of Kobane after the UN warned thousands of civilians risked massacre if it falls.
The pre-dawn attack came Saturday after the IS militants captured the defenders' headquarters Friday, sparking fears they would cut off the last escape route to neighbouring Turkey.
Meanwhile, US officials warned that while attention is focused on Kobane, the jihadists have been piling on pressure in neighbouring Iraq, putting the army in a "fragile" position in Anbar province between Baghdad and the border.
The renewed IS drive in Kobane sparked 90 minutes of heavy fighting before the jihadists fell back, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
US-led coalition warplanes launched two air strikes against IS targets south and east of town early Saturday, said the group, which has a wide network of sources inside Syria.
The Observatory said a sandstorm later prevented more air raids, while fighting raged in southern Kobane and near the captured headquarters.
The coalition has intensified air strikes against IS, which began its assault on September 16, but the Pentagon says there are limits to what can be done without ground troops.
Small groups of Kurdish fighters were trying to harry the encircling jihadists with operations across the front line, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura warned Friday that 12,000 or so civilians still in or near Kobane, including about 700 mainly elderly people in the town centre, "will most likely be massacred" if the town falls.
Kobane was "literally surrounded" except for one narrow entry and exit point to the Turkish border, de Mistura said, urging Ankara to allow volunteers and equipment in to help defend the town.
The Observatory said at least 554 people have been killed in and around Kobane since the IS advance began - 298 IS militants, 236 Kurdish fighters and 20 civilians.
It said 16 IS militants died in coalition air raids Friday across the provinces of Aleppo - which includes Kobane - and Raqa, the main IS stronghold in Syria.
Turkey has tightened security of its porous border after the fighting in Kobane sparked the exodus of 200,000 refugees over the frontier.
Turkey has been deeply reluctant to allow weapons or Kurdish fighters to cross the border despite repeated nights of protests among its own large Kurdish minority that have left 31 people dead.
In Europe, more than 20,000 Kurds demonstrated against IS in the German city of Duesseldorf, while two people were seriously hurt after radical Muslims attacked a Kurdish demonstration in the west Austrian city of Bregenz.
Another 5000 to 6000 turned out in Paris in solidarity with Kobane, as did smaller numbers elsewhere in France.
Washington has been frustrated over Turkey's reluctance to commit its well-equipped and well-trained forces to the coalition against IS, but reported "progress" after two days of talks in Ankara by the coalition's coordinator, retired US general John Allen.
The Observatory said at least 554 people have been killed in and around Kobane since the IS advance began - 298 IS militants, 236 Kurdish fighters and 20 civilians.
Military chiefs from the 21 countries already committed to the coalition are to meet in Washington next week to discuss strategy, Pentagon officials said.
US military planes dropped ammunition, food and water on Friday and Saturday to Iraqi troops under pressure from IS in north Iraq, the US Central Command said.
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