IS takes part of strategic mountain in Syria

The militants took the southern part of Mashtat Nour mountain near Kobane

The Islamic State (IS) militants have taken a part of a strategic mountain overlooking Syria's Kobane city after intense battles with Kurdish forces, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Sunday.

IS fighters took the southern part of Mashtat Nour mountain near Kobane, predominantly a Kurdish city, after violent clashes with fighters of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), during which 11 Kurdish and 16 IS fighters were killed, Xinhua reported.

The IS had called for reinforcement over the past few days to attack the mountain.

Meanwhile, the US-led anti-terror coalition targeted six IS positions in the northern region earlier Sunday, the Observatory said, without giving the death toll.

Kobane, also known as Ayn al-Arab, has been subject to ferocious attacks by IS militants over the past two weeks.

IS fighters have succeeded in capturing hundreds of Kurdish villages around Kobane, sending tens of thousands of people fleeing toward the Turkish borders.

Kurdish activists accused Turkey of cooperating with the IS to empty the city of its residents, so that it could impose a buffer zone on the Syrian side of the borders, under the pretext of helping the refugees.

The US-led anti-terror coalition has repeatedly struck IS positions around Kobane, but did not stop the ferocious attacks by the group.

Syrian Kurds have reached a deadlock in their fight with IS militants, who have repeatedly tried to storm Kurdish-dominated Syrian areas.

Accounting for some 15% of Syria's 23 million population, the Kurds are mostly living in the northern part of the embattled country.