“It is known that the terrorist group ISIS [IS] has been attacking too many places simultaneously in Kobani and also to Mursitpinar border gate since this morning… One of these attacks was made in the Syrian side of the border by a bomb-laden vehicle. The allegation that the vehicle in the mentioned attack reached the border gate through Turkish land is definitely a lie,” Turkish Prime Minister’s office said as quoted by Al Arabiya news agency.
Earlier on Saturday, the Syrian Human Rights Observatory reported that four IS militants detonated themselves around the city of Kobani. The suicide bombs alongside at least 110 shells killed some 30 people.
A Kobani reporter told radio Sputnik that the militants, who launched the attacks, were located in Turkish territory.
“[The suicide bombers] detonated car bombs both around the city and at the Turkish border check-points, from what we see here, it is apparent that the militants are located in Turkish territory and are launching attacks [on Kobani] from Turkey,” the reporter told Sputnik Radio.
The Islamic State is a Sunni jihadi group that has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, it launched an offensive in Iraq, seizing vast areas in both countries and announcing the establishment of an Islamic caliphate on the territories under its control.
Since September 2014, IS militants have besieged Kobani, one of the largest towns in the Kurdish region bordering Turkey. Kurdish self-defense forces have been defending the town with the help of the US-led international coalition, that is currently conducting airstrikes against IS targets in Syria and Iraq, but Turkey was reluctant to help the Kurds and strengthened security at the country’s border instead.
