IS closes in on key Syria border town

DAMASCUS: Islamic State group fighters closed in Monday to within only a few kilometers of a key Kurdish town on Syria’s border with Turkey, despite continued airstrikes by the US-led coalition. NATO member Turkey’s government meanwhile said it would ask Parliament to debate joining the coalition against the fighters operating on the country’s doorstep from as early as Thursday. The alliance carried out fresh raids against IS positions in Syria overnight, but the militants still managed to advance within 5 km of the strategic Syrian town of Ain Al-Arab, known as Kobane to the Kurds, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Britain-based monitoring group said it was the closest IS had come to the town since they began advancing toward it nearly two weeks ago. The militants fired at least 15 rockets at the town center, killing at least one person, as they advanced, the Observatory said, adding that other rockets hit the Syrian-Turkish border.   Arab News