Smoke billowed over the pivotal Syrian town of Kobani last night as Islamic State militants followed up their 16-day siege with a massive offensive.
Three large fires raged across the town and artillery shells thumped into residential districts every few minutes.
Islamic State (Isis) fighters have Kobani under attack from the east, south and west — the northern edge of the town is fenced in by the Turkish border. The heaviest shelling yesterday fell on the eastern suburbs, with the attackers appearing to concentrate their efforts on a strategic communications tower on a hilltop overlooking the town.
Observers fear that the battle for Kobani, which is populated largely by ethnic Kurds, could end in a massacre if Isis is able to seize control.
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