Kurdish forces in Kobani have repulsed Islamic State's latest attempt to seal off the border with Turkey as troops battle jihadists in neighbouring Iraq.
The Kurds' move came as the US military said it had unleashed 25 air strikes in Syria and Iraq since Friday, hitting IS jihadists and oil infrastructure they control.
Washington said it saw "encouraging" signs, but warned the raids might not prevent the fall of Kobani, and its priority remained the Iraq campaign against IS.
Despite a wave of coalition air strikes, Iraqi forces are struggling to regain and hold ground.
As fighting raged, Iraqi MPs finally agreed on naming defence and interior ministers to spearhead the pushback, in a move US Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed as a "very positive step forward".
Heavy IS mortar fire hit the Syrian side of the Kobani border crossing with Turkey, which is the Kurds' sole route for resupply and civilian escape, Kurdish official Idris Nassen told AFP.
At least three rounds landed on the Turkish side of the border, one near where the Turkish army is deployed.
The jihadists launched a fierce attack before being pushed back, Nassen said.
IS suffered heavy losses and sent in reinforcements, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The group said 21 jihadists died in air strikes and another 14 in ground fighting on Friday. Three Kurdish fighters were killed.
UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura warned earlier this month that about 12,000 civilians remained in Kobani and risked "massacre" if the jihadists cut off border access.
Overnight coalition air strikes on IS targets elsewhere in Syria killed 10 civilians, said the Observatory, which has a network of sources inside the country.
Of 15 air strikes in Syria since Friday, 12 were aimed at "degrading and destroying their oil-producing, collecting, storage and transportation infrastructure," the US Central Command said.
Three other strikes in Syria hit two IS positions near Kobani and a military camp in mainly jihadist-held Raqa province.
The US commander hailed "encouraging" signs in the defence of Kobani, but said Iraq remained the coalition's priority.
"Iraq is our main effort and it has to be, and the things that we're doing right now in Syria are being done primarily to shape the conditions in Iraq," said General Lloyd Austin.
Meanwhile, in Baghdad, a Sunni named as new defence minister, Khaled al-Obaidi, was a senior officer in the air force of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.
Gaining support from Iraq's Sunni Arab minority will be key to pushing back IS.
Kerry congratulated Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi.
"These were critical positions to be filled in order to assist with organising the effort" against the IS, he said.
Iraqi troops are battling IS on two fronts - Ramadi, west of Baghdad, and near Tikrit, Saddam's home town.
Forces loyal to the Shiite-led government still hold ground in Ramadi, and its loss would be a major blow for Baghdad.
On Friday and Saturday, 10 air strikes targeted IS in Iraq, including five near the strategic Mosul Dam, north of Baghdad, the US military said.
But security in the capital also remains a problem with bombings killing nearly 50 people in the past two days.
On Saturday, Spain announced it would begin training Iraqi forces later this year.
Defence Minister Pedro Morenes made the announcement in Washington, where he has been meeting senior US officials.
The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously called for more support for the Iraqi government in the face of the "vicious string of suicide, vehicle-borne and other attacks" in the capital.
In Syria's northern province of Aleppo, IS jihadists on Thursday executed a man they accused of filming their headquarters, and displayed his body on a cross, the Observatory said.
Meanwhile, two IS fighters, one just 15, were executed after being captured near Kobani by Arab allies of its Kurdish defenders, the monitoring group said.
Share
