16 IS fighters killed in Syria

The armed Kurdish militia killed 16 fighters of the Islamic State (IS) Sunni radical group near the city of Kobane in northern Syria Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The IS fighters were targeted by the Kurdish People's Protection Unites (YPG) in the village of Halang, close to the predominantly Kurdish city of Kobane, where the militant group is on a crushing offensive against the Kurdish militants.

In the southeastern parts of Kobane, at least seven Kurdish fighters were killed during clashes with IS, according to the Observatory.

In earlier reports, the Observatory said the IS fighters were just metres away from the city, warning of a mass massacre if the IS militants succeeded to storm the Kurdish city.

Tens of thousands of Kurds have fled to the Turkish borders since IS started its bombardment on Kobane and the surrounding Kurdish towns and villages. Kurdish activists accused Turkey of aiding IS in battling the Kurds in Kobane to create a pretext for military intervention and to establish a buffer zone in Syria.