Kurdish fighters battle Islamic State in Syrian border town

BEIRUT — Kurdish fighters in Syria besieged pockets of Islamic State extremists in the northern border town of Kobani on Friday, a day after the militants managed to push into the strategic town in a major onslaught, setting off clashes that have so far killed more than 100 civilians, activists said.

According to Kobani Kurdish activist Mustafa Bali, small groups of Islamic State militants were still in the town and have taken civilians hostage in at least three locations.

Kobani on Syria’s border with Turkey had become a proud symbol of Kurdish resistance after the town and its defenders, backed by U.S.-led coalition air strikes, repelled an extended Islamic State assault earlier this year.

A Facebook page that posts Islamic State statements said a group of “inghimasiyoun,” a term that the group uses to refer to infiltrators who enter areas behind their enemies’ lines, entered Kobani and are fighting street battles inside the town.

After the clashes in Kobani broke out, the main Kurdish militia, the People’s Protection Units closed the primary border crossing point between Turkey and Tal Abyad for security reasons, said the group’s spokesman Redur Khalil.

Elsewhere, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 20 Syrian troops were killed after a suicide bomber targeted the Criminal Security department building in the northeastern city of Hassakeh.