Kurds thwart new bid to cut off Syria town

Kurdish forces in the Syrian town of Kobane have repulsed a new attempt by Islamic State fighters to cut off the border with Turkey as troops battle the jihadists in neighbouring Iraq.

A Kurdish official reported five new US-led strikes around Kobane overnight into Saturday 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 said.

The jihadists launched a fierce attack from the east towards the border gate before being pushed back, he added.

Nassen said that IS had taken casualties in the fighting, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the jihadists had sent in reinforcements.

UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura earlier this month warned that about 12,000 civilians remain in and around Kobane and risk "massacre" if the jihadists cut off the border.

Kobane district chief Anwar Muslim said Friday that IS sniper and mortar fire was preventing authorities from evacuating civilians caught up in the battle.

"Their situation is difficult," he added.

The US commander overseeing the air war hailed "encouraging" signs in the defence of Kobane, but said the town could still fall and that 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.

Iraqi government troops are battling IS on two fronts - in the Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, and near Tikrit, hometown of executed dictator Saddam Hussein.

Ramadi is in a shrinking patch of territory in the predominantly Sunni Arab province where forces loyal to the Shiite-led government still hold ground, and its loss would be a major blow for Baghdad.

Iraqi troops have been struggling to retake and hold ground, despite coalition air support.

Security in the capital also remains a problem with bombings killing nearly 50 people in the past two days alone.

But the Pentagon insisted Baghdad faced no "imminent threat" from the jihadists.

"There are not masses of formations of (IS) forces outside of Baghdad about to come in," spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said.

The US-led coalition has prioritised the campaign against IS in Iraq because it can work with both government and Kurdish forces on the ground.

The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously called for increased support for the Baghdad government in the face of the "vicious string of suicide, vehicle-borne and other attacks" in the capital.

But in Syria, the coalition refuses to work with the government of President Bashar al-Assad, having sided with the opposition in the country's devastating civil war.