BEIRUT, October 3 (RIA Novosti) - Islamic State (IS) militant group gathers ammunition and reinforcement in order to attack Syrian town on Ayn al-Arab (also known as Kobani), located close to the border with Turkey, Lebanese TV channel al-Mayadin reported Friday.
According to the TV channel, jihadists are reinforcing their troops and constantly shelling town center. Civilian causalities have been reported.
Earlier, Syrian Kurds have stated that they managed to stop the Islamists' advance and killed over 30 militants. However, Kurds will most likely lack arms and ammunition to repulse a new attack.
Last week, Salih Muslim, the leader of the Syrian Kurdish party PYD, made a distress call, claiming that Islamic State (IS) militants were likely to slaughter the residents of Kobani, unless Kurdish fighters get weapons, promised to them by the West. On that same day, members of the Kurdish community in London have staged a hunger strike near Downing Street in a bid to have the British government provide them with heavy ammunition to fight against Islamic State.
Over 140,000 Kurds have fled Kobani and moved to the neighboring Turkey amid fears risen by the Islamic State group, which mainly targets ethnic and religious minorities.
Earlier, to support the Kurds, the Turkish parliament approved the deployment of Turkish troops in cross-border military operations against Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq and Syria.
In response, Syrian side said that any Turkish action on the territory of Syria will be interpreted as aggression by Damascus.
In August, the United States started launching airstrikes against IS positions in Iraq. In September, the attacks of the US and its allies were extended to Syria.
The United States has been trying to get Turkey involved in its anti-jihadist military campaign ever since the release of IS-held Turkish hostages in September.
The IS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has been fighting against the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, the group extended its attacks to northern and western Iraq, declaring a caliphate on the territories over which it had control. Areas, seized by the IS currently include over 60 Kurdish villages.
