Islamic State on the brink of seizing Kobane as Kurds plead for help; Turkey says airstrikes not enough to hold militants at bay
Updated 8 October 2014, 7:50 AEST
Turkey's president says the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani is "about to fall" to Islamic State fighters who have pressed home a three-week assault in the face of fierce resistance and US-led airstrikes.
IS fighters seized more ground in the south and west of the key strategic town, on the Turkish border, despite fresh attacks by warplanes from the US-led coalition.
A statement from US Central Command said warplanes had hit jihadi tanks, heavy guns and fighters on the outskirts of the town.
Turkey said it was pressing Washington for more air strikes, but president Tayyip Erdogan said bombing was not enough to defeat Islamic State and set out Turkey's demands for additional measures before it could intervene.
"The problem of ISIS [Islamic State] ... cannot be solved via air bombardment. Right now... Kobani is about to fall," he said during a visit to a camp for Syrian refugees.
"We had warned the West. We wanted three things. No-fly zone, a secure zone parallel to that, and the training of moderate Syrian rebels.
He said Turkey would take action if there were threats to Turkish soldiers guarding a historic site in Syria that Ankara regards as its territory. But so far Turkey has made no move to get involved in the fighting across the border.
Syrian Human Rights Observatory director Rami Abdelrahman said street battles were now being fought in the south and west of Kobane, which is also known as Ain al-Arab, after IS jihadists entered from the east on Monday evening.
They have retreated by a few streets in the eastern areas they seized yesterday, but the fighting has now spread to the south and west of the town," Mr Abdelrahman said.
He said IS fighters had seized a number of buildings in the south and west of the town, including a hospital under construction on the western outskirts of Kobane.
Kobane activist Mustafa Ebdi said the coalition air strikes had little effect.
"The strikes hit the Mishtenur area," he said, referring to a plateau south of Kobane.
"But they [IS] aren't gathered there. There are other places they should be hitting."
Mr Ebdi confirmed street battles were being fought in the east, west and south of the town, which is bordered to the north by the Turkish border.
"The Kurdish fighters are still optimistic, they only have light weapons, but they know Kobane well," he said.
"And they are fighting to defend their town and they say they will fight to the last person."
IS is hoping to seize the town to cement its grip over a long stretch of the border between Syria and Turkey.
An estimated 400 people have been killed in three weeks of fighting.
IS hiding weaponry from air strikes; Kurds plead for help
Senior spokesman for the Kurdish fighters, Idriss Nassan, told ABC's 7.30 program he was not sure they would be able to hold the town without outside assistance.
IS jihadists began advancing on Kobane three weeks ago, quickly capturing a string of villages surrounding the town and prompting some 186,000 residents to flee into Turkey.
Mr Nassan said it was hard for the fighters to resist against IS's heavy weaponry over an extended period of time.
"Because they don't have, you know, enough weaponry to fight against ISIS, because ISIS has a lot of heavy weaponry that they brought from Iraq, from Syria, from many places," he said.
Mr Nassan said the Kurdish militia had made a plea for assistance from abroad, but was yet to receive a response.
"The YPG (Kurdish People's Protection Units) leaders and the democratic autonomous administration in Kobane called for the international community to give help, ammunition and heavy weaponry," he said.
"But unfortunately until now we haven't had any answer from them."
Mr Nassan said while the US-led air strikes were helping the fight against IS in the region, more needed to be done.
"Air strikes are useful but they are not enough to destroy the attacks of ISIS," he said.
"The air strikes happen at night, and at night ISIS hide their heavy weaponry. They are fighters in a wide land, and ... they can not target them as effectively and as strongly."
Kurds have held protests across Turkey, demanding the Turkish government takes stronger action to defend Kobane.
Protests took place in Istanbul and spread to at least six cities, with police using tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowds.
One protester was killed and authorities in the southern province of Mardin have declared a curfew in six districts.
Turkish troops and tanks have so far lined the border but have not crossed into Syria.
IS control of Kobane would challenge US strategy
The fall of Kobane into IS hands would be a "significant victory" for the militant group and give it control of the Turkish border, a specialist in Turkish-Kurdish politics said.
William Gourlay, from Monash University, said the loss of Kobane would have widespread consequences.
Turkey's border with Syria has been a key entry point for foreign fighters wanting to join IS.
"I think anyone who may be left in Kobane can expect no mercy," Mr Gourlay told ABC News 24.
"The implications for them are particularly dire. I think there will be another mass exodus of Syrian refugees across the border.
"It gives ISIS pretty much control of most of the Turkish border ... so strategically it's important in that regard.
"It's also important because the Syrian Kurdish militia and Syrian militia have been the most effective force in repelling ISIS, so for ISIS to overcome them is a significant victory."
Mr Gourlay said the defeat would challenge US president Barack Obama's strategy to "degrade and destroy" the IS group.
"He stated that while the US is very concerned, they're very reluctant to put boots on the ground, and so they're interested in local forces taking on ISIS and pushing them back, and here is an example of where a local force has been doing that for some time with great success, but with very limited support the US," he said.
"So it calls into question what the US might actually be doing in Syria."
Turkey has been reluctant to join the international coalition which has pledged to strike IS targets and Mr Gourlay said IS's capture of Kobane was unlikely to change its their approach.
"The Turkish government has given the army approval to cross the border, should it be deemed necessary, but there are some concerns from the Turks as to the intentions of the Kurds, and in fact the affiliations of the Kurdish group which holds Kobane," he said.
"Also, at this stage I think it's unlikely that the Turkish army will cross the border.
"The Turks are more concerned with the threat that the Syrian president Assad presents, rather than ISIS at this point."
The United States and a group of Gulf Arab states last month began air strikes on IS targets in Syria, while Australia and several European countries have contributed forces to the fight against IS in Iraq.
Infographic: Map of location of Kobane, Syria.
* Fears of massacre as IS militants enter key border town
* Australian warplanes to begin strikes against Islamic State targets
* Islamic State committing 'staggering' violations against humanity in Iraq: UN report
* Islamic State: Turkey authorises deployment of forces to combat militants in Iraq and Syria
* FACT CHECK: It's war, not 'a mission': Abbott incorrect on Iraq action
* Kurdish forces retreat as IS fighters advance in Syria
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