Turkish authorities have denied Kurdish claims that extremists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have launched an attack on the Syrian border town of Kobani from Turkey.

Kurdish officials claimed on Saturday that ISIL fighters staged attacks in Kobani after crossing from Turkey.

The assault began with a suicide attack by a bomber in an armored vehicle on the border crossing between Kobani and Turkey, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Nawaf Khalil, a spokesman for Syria's powerful Kurdish Democratic Union Party.
ISIL "used to attack the town from three sides," Khalil said. "Today, they are attacking from four sides."

Idris Nassan, a Kurdish official in Kobani, said the first car bomber appeared to have crossed from Turkey and exploded at around 0400 GMT, killing two people and injuring others.

"They also attacked with two cars in the south but (Syrian Kurdish fighters) destroyed them before they reached their targets," he told Reuters by telephone from Kobani.

Turkey denied that the car bomber crossed from Turkey. Şanlıurfa Governor's Office said in a statement that the claims are totally untrue. A statement from the Prime Ministry's Directorate General of Press and Information (BYEGM) also refuted the claims.

Turkey, while previously backing the Syrian rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad in that country's civil war, has been hesitant to aid the Kobani fight over its own fears about stoking Kurdish ambitions for an independent state. Ankara had no immediate comment Saturday about ISIL fighters launching the assault from Turkish soil.

Associated Press journalists saw thick black smoke rise over Kobani amid the attack. The sound of heavy gunfire echoed through the surrounding hills as armored vehicles took up positions on the border. The Observatory said heavy fighting also took place southwest of the town where ISIL brought in tanks to reinforce their fighters.

ISIL began its Kobani offensive in mid-September, capturing parts of the town as well as dozens of nearby villages. The town later became the focus of airstrikes by the US-led coalition against the militants.

Kurdish fighters slowly have been advancing in Kobani since late October, when dozens of Iraqi peshmerga fighters joined fellow Syrian Kurds in the battles. The fighting has killed hundreds of fighters on both sides over the past two months.

The Observatory said Saturday the latest fighting killed at least eight Kurdish fighters and 17 jihadis.

Today's Zaman