Kurdish forces in the Syrian town of Kobane repulsed a new attempt by Islamic State fighters to cut off the border with Turkey on Saturday as troops battled the jehadis in neighbouring Iraq.
A Kurdish official reported five new US-led strikes around Kobane overnight as the coalition kept up its air support for the town’s defenders.
But the US military said that while it saw some “encouraging” signs, the strikes might not prevent Kobane’s fall and its priority remained the campaign against IS in Iraq. Heavy IS mortar fire hit the Syrian side of the border crossing with Turkey which is the Kurdish fighters’ sole avenue for resupply and the only escape route for remaining civilians, Kurdish official Idris Nassen told AFP.