ISIL fighters capture Kurdish HQ in Syria's Kobane: Monitor

BEIRUT - Agence France-Presse / Reuters

Smoke rises from an airstrike in the Syrian town of Kobane, as seen from the Turkish village of Mürşitpınar on the Syrian border, in Şanlıurfa province, on Oct. 10. AFP Photo

Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants overran the headquarters of Kurdish forces defending the battleground Syrian border town of Kobane on Oct. 10, a monitoring group said.

"The jihadists have taken control of the headquarters building," used by the Kurdish military and civilian authorities, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Fierce fighting had raged for the complex throughout the morning after ISIL militants captured part of it used by the Kurds' asayesh internal security force on Oct. 9.

"ISIL now controls 40 percent of the town," after entering eastern districts on Oct. 5 and attacking from the west and the south, said the Britain-based Observatory, which has a wide network of sources inside Syria.        

"The capture of the headquarters will allow the jihadists to advance on the border post with Turkey to the north of the town," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

"If they achieve that, they will have the Kurdish forces inside Kobane completely surrounded," he added.