Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are closing in on a key Kurdish town in Syria, as neighbouring Turkey vowed to do its utmost to stop the strategic prize falling to the armed group.
Heavy fighting between ISIL and Kurdish militias was reported througout Kobane on Friday with artillery shells landing on eastern and western neighbourhoods of the besieged town.
Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith, reporting from Suruc in Southern Turkey, said intense fighting including shelling, gunfire and explosions could be heard from across the border.
Sources from the town told Al Jazeera that ISIL had seized control of hills around Kobane, and backed by military vehicles and tanks, launched an attack on a south-eastern suburb early in the morning.
At least 25 mortar rounds rained down on Kobane in the morning as Syrian Kurdish fighters, known as the Peoples Protection Units (YPG), battled ISIL on its outskirts, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The YPG reportedly destroyed two ISIL armoured vehicles southeast of the town, and killed seven ISIL fighters, the Britain-based watchdog added.