BEIRUT — Islamic State militants heavily shelled a Kurdish town on Syria’s border with Turkey on Friday as jihadi fighters prepared an all-out offensive for the strategic site, whose capture would provide a direct link between areas under their control in Aleppo and their stronghold in Raqqa to the east.
The fighting came as Turkey’s prime minister pledged his country would do what it could to prevent the fall of Kobani, although he did not spell out what assistance Turkey would provide.
Kurdish officials and activists said that Islamic State group fighters had so far not penetrated the frontier town as fighting raged on the eve of a major Muslim holiday.
“It looks like they are going to attack tonight and try to enter (Kobani) on the day of the feast,” said Nasser Haj Mansour, a defense official in Syria’s Kurdish region, referring to the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha that begins Saturday in most Muslim countries. “Kurdish fighters are ready and prepared to repel any attack.”
