U.S.-led airstrikes hit Islamic State near Turkey

BEIRUT — U.S.-led coalition airstrikes targeted Islamic State fighters pressing their offensive against a Kurdish town near the Syrian-Turkish border on Tuesday in an attempt to halt the militants' advance, activists said.

The frontier town of Kobani, also known by its Arabic name of Ayn Arab, and surrounding villages have been under attack by the Islamic State group since mid-September. The fighting has forced some 150,000 Kurds to flee to Turkey in what has been one of the largest single exoduses in Syria's civil war, now in its fourth year.

It was not immediately clear how effective Tuesday's airstrikes were in slowing the Islamic militants' advance. Over the past few days, the extremists have pushed to within three miles of Kobani and have begun hitting it with mortars and artillery shells.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes hit Islamic State fighters east and west of Kobani on Tuesday. The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, also confirmed the airstrikes on the town's outskirts.

Both groups attributed the strikes to the U.S.-led coalition. There was no immediate confirmation from the United States or its allies.

Read Wednesday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

Upcoming Events