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Kurds repel jihadist attack on Syrian town

Turkish soldiers on armored vehicles drive to their new position at Mursitpinar near Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, as fighting intensified between Syrian Kurds and the militants of Islamic State group in Kobani, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, just a few hundred meters inside Syria and its surrounding areas have been under attack since mid-September, with militants capturing dozens of nearby Kurdish villages.(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) Turkish soldiers on armored vehicles drive to their new position at Mursitpinar near Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, as fighting intensified between Syrian Kurds and the militants of Islamic State group in Kobani, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, just a few hundred meters inside Syria and its surrounding areas have been under attack since mid-September, with militants capturing dozens of nearby Kurdish villages.(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

By Associated Press October 6, 2014 1 min read

BEIRUT (AP) – An activist group and a Kurdish official say gunmen defending a Syrian town near the border with Turkey have repelled a wide offensive by jihadi fighters.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a statement by the Kurdish force, known as YPK, say more than 45 fighters on both sides were killed Sunday near the town of Kobani.

The Observatory’s chief Rami Abdurrahman said Monday that one of the attacks against Islamic State fighters was carried by a female Kurdish fighter who blew herself up, killing 10 jihadists.

The Kurdish official identified the suicide attacker as Deilar Kanj Khamis.

The Islamic State group has pushed to the outskirts of Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, as part of a weekslong offensive against the town and surrounding villages.