Kurds thwart new jihadist bid to cut off Syria town

MURSITPINAR, Oct 18 (agencies): Kurdish forces in the Syrian town of Kobane repulsed a new attempt by Islamic State fighters to cut off the border with Turkey Saturday as troops battled the jihadists in neighbouring Iraq.
A Kurdish official reported five new US-led strikes around Kobane overnight 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 the Islamic State (IS) group 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 told AFP.
The jihadists launched a fierce attack from the east towards the border gate before being pushed back, he added.
IS suffered heavy losses in the fighting and was forced to send in reinforcements, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The jihadists lost 21 of their people to air strikes and another 14 in ground fighting on Friday, the Britain-based monitoring group said. The Kurds lost three of their fighters.
An AFP correspondent on the Turkish side reported sporadic mortar fire very close to the border crossing on Saturday afternoon.
UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura warned earlier this month that about 12,000 civilians remained in and around Kobane and risked "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.
Overnight coalition air strikes on IS targets elsewhere in Syria killed 10 civilians, the Observatory said.
Seven died in Deir Ezzor province in the east and three more in Hasakeh province in the northeast, said the group, which has a wide network of sources inside the country.
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.
Meanwhile: : Islamic State group jihadists have executed a man in northern Syria they accused of filming their headquarters and displayed his body on a cross, a monitoring group said on Saturday.
The man was put to death in the Aleppo province town of Al-Bab on Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
His body was then strapped to a makeshift metal cross and hung with a sign reading "Abdullah Al-Bushi. Crime: filming Islamic State headquarters for 500 Turkish lira ($222) per video," the Britain-based group said, citing witnesses on the ground.
"Judgement: execution and crucifixion for three days," the sign hung around the man's neck added.
IS has carried out repeated executions of those it accuses of spying or diverging from its harsh interpretation of Islam.