Jihadists advance in Syria border town despite air strikes

Jihadists fighting to take a strategic Syrian border town advanced today despite intensified US-led air strikes as deadly pro-Kurdish protests over the fate of its residents shook neighbouring Turkey.
With pressure growing for international action to halt the advance of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, France threw its weight behind calls for a buffer zone on the Syrian-Turkish frontier.
The US and Britain said they were willing to "examine" the idea of a safe haven.
The Pentagon said air strikes alone were not enough to prevent Kobane from falling.
Ultimately, "capable" ground forces -- rebels in Syria and Iraqi government troops -- would have to defeat the IS group, spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said.

Kobane has become a symbol of resistance against IS militants who have proclaimed an Islamic "caliphate" across swathes of Iraq and Syria, carrying out beheadings and other atrocities.

Demonstrations in Turkey over Ankara's lack of action in support of Kobane's predominantly Kurdish residents triggered clashes in which at least 18 people were killed.
For the first time in more than two decades, a curfew was declared in six Turkish provinces after the unrest.
In Germany, police used batons, pepper spray and water cannon as Kurds and Yazidis clashed with radical Muslims in two northern cities in violence that injured at least 23 people.

The three-week IS assault on Kobane has sent about 200,000 people flooding across the border into Turkey, but some residents said hundreds more remained two days after jihadists breached the town's defences.
"There are 1,000 civilians who refuse to leave," said Kobane activist Mustafa Ebdi.
"One of them, aged 65, said to me: "Where would we go? Dying here is better than dying on the road'."
US and coalition aircraft targeted IS jihadists near the town, launching six attacks to help Kurdish fighters on today, the US military said.
The strikes destroyed an armoured personnel carrier, artillery and several vehicles, Central Command said.

The sounds of heavy gunfire and mortar shells were heard from the Turkish side of the border, an AFP reporter said, as fierce street battles raged.