Syria border town about to fall to Islamic State

Baghdad: The Islamic State group is about to capture the Syrian border town of Kobani, Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, as outgunned Kurdish forces struggled to repel the extremists with limited aid from U.S.-led coalition airstrikes.

IS fighters, using tanks and weapons looted from captured army bases in Iraq and Syria, have been pounding Kurdish forces in the strategic town for days. Since the militants’ offensive began in mid-September, more than 400 people have been killed in the fighting, activists said. The President said the coalition air campaign launched in September would not be enough to halt the IS group’s advance and called for greater cooperation with the Syrian opposition, which is fighting the extremists. Meanwhile, a Franciscan priest also has been seized by Al-Nusra Front in Syria.