Beirut--The Islamic State group launched a two-pronged offensive in northern Syria on Thursday after several setbacks, re-entering the symbolic battleground town of Kobane and seizing parts of the city of Hasakeh.
In southern Syria, an alliance of rebel groups, including Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front, also attacked government-held areas of the city of Daraa.
Analysts said the surprise IS assaults were aimed at diverting Kurdish forces after they scored a series of victories and advanced on the jihadists' Syrian stronghold of Raqa.
Kobane, on the border with Turkey, became an important symbol in the battle against IS after the group launched a bid to take it last year.
Kurdish forces backed by US-led air strikes waged a four-month battle to repel the group, finally securing the town in January.
But on Thursday, the jihadists returned, detonating a suicide car bomb near the border crossing adjacent to Kobane as they launched an assault.
"Fierce clashes erupted afterwards in the centre of the town and there are bodies lying in the streets," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor.
He said at least 12 civilians and Kurdish fighters had been killed in the car bomb and the subsequent fighting in the town, along with eight IS militants.
A few hours later, two more car bombs detonated near the border, but there were no immediate details on casualties.
AFP
