Islamic state fighter advance on Kobani

Islamic State fighters advance on Syrian town Kobani
Jihadists are on the verge of seizing the key Syrian border town of Kobani, Turkey has warned after a three-week assault by the Islamic State group that has left hundreds reported dead.
The fall of Kobani to IS would mark a major victory for the jihadists, who are fighting for a long stretch of the border with Turkey for their self-proclaimed "Islamic caliphate".
At least 412 people, more than half of them jihadists, have been killed in and around Kobani since mid-September, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Tuesday (local time) that the strategically important town was "about to fall", saying a ground operation was needed to defeat the militants.
"The terror will not be over ... unless we cooperate for a ground operation," Erdogan said in a televised speech.
With the fight for Kobani entering a crucial phase, Kurdish militia backed by US-led air strikes waged fierce street battles with the advancing jihadists, who pierced the town's defences on Monday.
Gunfire, explosions and the roar of fighter jets were heard from the Turkish side of the border, while a Kurdish flag was seen flying in the centre of Kobani, according to an AFP journalist.
The IS jihadists "are trying hard to capture the city", said Idris Nahsen, a Kurdish official still in Kobani, also known as Ain al-Arab.
"We need help from the international community," Nahsen told AFP by telephone. "Either we finish them (IS) or they will finish us."

Kurdish fighters have ordered civilians to evacuate the town, after the jihadists planted their black flags on its eastern side and entered Kobane on Monday.
The United States and its allies have launched nearly 2000 air raids against jihadists in both Iraq and Syria in an attempt to stop their advance, including four strikes in Kobani on Tuesday.
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In Iraq, at least 17 people were reported killed when a suicide bomber attacked an observation post used by Shi'ite militiamen watching for IS fighters crossing the Tigris River late on Monday.
In Syria, the Kurdish fighters are optimistic that their local knowledge of Kobani will compensate for their light weapons, said activist Mustafa Ebdi.
"They are fighting to defend their town and they say they will fight to the last person," he said.
Ebdi said the latest US air raids had little effect.
"The strikes hit the Mishtenur area," he said, referring to a plateau south of Kobani.
"But they (IS) aren't gathered there. There are other places they should be hitting," he said.
The battle has prompted some 186,000 residents to flee across the Turkish border.
An official in the Turkish town of Suruc said on Tuesday that 700 people, including 47 wounded, had crossed the border from Syria overnight, both civilians and Kurdish fighters.
Seven bodies were also carried across the frontier.
Turkey last week won parliamentary approval for military intervention against IS in Syria and Iraq, but it has yet to announce any firm plans for military action despite the advance of the jihadists to its doorstep.
In northwestern Syria, meanwhile, a rival extremist organisation to IS - the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front -abducted a priest and several Christians on Sunday night, the Franciscan mission said on Tuesday.
Article originally from www.stuff.co.nz