<p>A US-led coalition has carried out new air strikes against jihadists from the Islamic State group outside a key Syrian Kurdish border town, activists and a monitor said today.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group, said the coalition hit at least four areas yesterday on the southern and southeastern fronts outside Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab.<br /><br />The group said the strikes had destroyed some military materiel belonging to IS, which fired dozens of shells into the town after advancing to its outskirts.<br /><br />An activist from the town, Mustafa Ebdi, also reported the strikes. "They hit last night mostly on the eastern front," he said.<br /><br />The raids followed a day of relentless bombardment of Kobane by IS forces who have surrounded the town, Syria's third largest Kurdish town.<br /><br />Both Ebdi and the Observatory said IS forces had fired at least 80 shells into Kobane yesterday, as they attempted to force their way into the strategic border town.<br /><br />Ebdi said Kurdish forces working with Arab rebels were able to repel an evening attack by IS jihadists, but fighting was ongoing.<br /><br />The Observatory too reported heavy fighting this morning, particularly on the southwestern front, adding that IS was continuing to shell the town.<br /><br />There was no immediate death toll from the fighting overnight. But Ebdi said there was some optimism among the fighters in the town today.<br /><br />"Daesh fighters were saying they would be praying Eid prayers in Kobane," he said, using the Arabic acronym for IS and referring to the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival being marked today. "But so far they have failed to enter the town."<br /><br />IS began its advance towards Kobane on September 16, hoping to seize the strategic town and cement its grip over a long stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border.<br /><br />The fighting has prompted a mass exodus of residents from Kobane and the surrounding countryside, with the Observatory estimating around 300,000 people have been displaced.<br /><br />Many of those, at least 186,000 according to the Turkish government, have fled over the border into Turkey.</p>
<p>A US-led coalition has carried out new air strikes against jihadists from the Islamic State group outside a key Syrian Kurdish border town, activists and a monitor said today.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group, said the coalition hit at least four areas yesterday on the southern and southeastern fronts outside Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab.<br /><br />The group said the strikes had destroyed some military materiel belonging to IS, which fired dozens of shells into the town after advancing to its outskirts.<br /><br />An activist from the town, Mustafa Ebdi, also reported the strikes. "They hit last night mostly on the eastern front," he said.<br /><br />The raids followed a day of relentless bombardment of Kobane by IS forces who have surrounded the town, Syria's third largest Kurdish town.<br /><br />Both Ebdi and the Observatory said IS forces had fired at least 80 shells into Kobane yesterday, as they attempted to force their way into the strategic border town.<br /><br />Ebdi said Kurdish forces working with Arab rebels were able to repel an evening attack by IS jihadists, but fighting was ongoing.<br /><br />The Observatory too reported heavy fighting this morning, particularly on the southwestern front, adding that IS was continuing to shell the town.<br /><br />There was no immediate death toll from the fighting overnight. But Ebdi said there was some optimism among the fighters in the town today.<br /><br />"Daesh fighters were saying they would be praying Eid prayers in Kobane," he said, using the Arabic acronym for IS and referring to the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival being marked today. "But so far they have failed to enter the town."<br /><br />IS began its advance towards Kobane on September 16, hoping to seize the strategic town and cement its grip over a long stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border.<br /><br />The fighting has prompted a mass exodus of residents from Kobane and the surrounding countryside, with the Observatory estimating around 300,000 people have been displaced.<br /><br />Many of those, at least 186,000 according to the Turkish government, have fled over the border into Turkey.</p>