BEIRUT — The Islamic State group launched an attack Saturday from Turkey on the Syrian border town of Kobani, a Kurdish official and activists said, although Turkey denied that the fighters had used its territory.
The assault began when a suicide bomber driving an armored vehicle detonated his explosives on the border crossing, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Nawaf Khalil, a spokesman for Syria’s powerful Kurdish Democratic Union Party.
The Islamic State group “used to attack the town from three sides,” Khalil said. “Today, they are attacking from four sides.”
Turkey, while previously backing the Syrian rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad in that country’s civil war, has been hesitant to aid them in Kobani because it fears to stoke Kurdish ambitions for an independent state.
Turkey confirmed Saturday that one suicide attack involved a bomb-loaded vehicle that detonated on the Syrian side of the border. But it denied the vehicle came from Turkey, which would be a first for the extremist fighters.
“Claims that the vehicle reached the border gate by crossing through Turkish soil are a lie,” read the statement released from the government press office at the border town of Suruc. “Contrary to certain claims, no Turkish official has made any statement claiming that the bomb-loaded vehicle had crossed in from Turkey.”
Associated Press journalists saw thick black smoke rise over Kobani during 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 the Islamic State group brought in tanks to reinforce their fighters.
Mustafa Bali, a Kobani-based activist, said by telephone that Islamic State group fighters have taken positions in Turkish grain silos near the border and from there are launching attacks toward the crossing.
“It is now clear that Turkey is openly cooperating with Daesh,” Bali said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State.
The Islamic State group claimed three suicide attacks in Kobani’s border crossing point, the SITE Intelligence Group reported.
Syria’s foreign minister said in a television interview that aired Friday night that the U.S.-led coalition’s weeks of airstrikes against militants in Syria had not weakened them. Washington and the U.N. Security Council “should force Turkey to tighten control” of its border to help defeat militants, added Walid al-Moallem.
“Is Daesh today, after two months of coalition airstrikes, weaker? All indications show that it is not weaker,” al-Moallem told Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV.
