MURSITPINAR: Kurdish forces in the Syrian town of Kobani repulsed a new attempt by Islamic State (IS) fighters to cut off the border with Turkey Saturday as troops battled the militants in neighboring Iraq.

It came as the US military said it had unleashed 25 more air strikes in Syria and Iraq since Friday, hitting IS militants and oil infrastructure they control. But while Washington said it saw “encouraging” signs, it warned the raids might not prevent the fall of Kobani, and its priority remained the campaign against IS in Iraq.

Despite a wave of coalition air strikes in recent weeks, Iraqi forces are struggling to regain and hold ground from the militants.

Heavy IS mortar fire hit the Syrian side of the border crossing with Turkey which is the Kurdish fighters’ sole avenue for resupply and the only escape route for remaining civilians, Kurdish official Idris Nassen told AFP.

At least three rounds crashed onto Turkey’s side of the border, one of them near a hill where the Turkish army is deployed, an AFP correspondent at the scene said.