Kurdish fighters have mounted a desperate defence of a Syrian border town besieged by Islamic State group jihadists as President Bashar al-Assad's regime warned neighbouring Turkey against intervening on its soil.
Huge plumes of smoke were seen rising from Kobane as its outnumbered defenders came under intense fire from jihadists who have advanced to its gates despite US-led air strikes against the militants.
At least 60 mortar rounds fired by the Islamic State (IS) group rained down on the Kurdish town on Friday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which described it as the heaviest bombardment since mid-September.
It said a Chechen member of the IS organisation was leading the assault on the town, which is considered a strategic prize.
The fierce fighting came a day after the Turkish government won authorisation from parliament to take military action in Syria and Iraq against the jihadists, who include thousands of foreigners in their ranks.
"We will do whatever we can so that Kobane does not fall," Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, adding that about 186,000 people had flooded across the border from Syria in less than two weeks.
Damascus was quick to hit back, saying the Turkish stance "represents a real aggression against a member state of the United Nations."
Ankara has not said what action it might take to prevent IS fighters from taking the town, and with it unbroken control of a long stretch of Turkey's more than 900km border with Syria.
The United States has been working to build a broad international alliance against the jihadists who have declared an Islamic "caliphate" straddling swathes of Iraq and Syria where they have committed widespread atrocities.
The Pentagon said aircraft from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined US warplanes in new bombing raids on Friday against IS in Syria.
Coalition planes hit militant tanks, oil refineries and a training camp, it said.
American aircraft also conducted three air raids in Iraq, including two northeast of Fallujah.
Despite the air strikes, IS fighters captured parts of the town of Heet, one of the last pro-government bastions in Iraq's western Anbar province, police sources said.
Jihadists also blew up a key bridge in Iraq's Salaheddin province as they retreated in the face of an offensive by pro-government forces.
In Syria, Kurdish militiamen destroyed two IS armoured vehicles southeast of Kobane, killing seven jihadists, according to the Britain-based Observatory, which has a wide range of sources inside the country.
A Syrian Kurdish official said Kurdish fighters had also destroyed an IS tank, but pleaded for more international support.
"For about 16 days we are defending Kobane. We are alone," Idris Nahsen told AFP by telephone.
"We need help from the international community. We need weapons and ammunition," he said.
Share
