Islamic State militants attack 2 cities in northern Syria

BEIRUT -- After weeks of setbacks, militants from the Islamic State group launched swift counteroffensives Thursday on predominantly Kurdish areas of northern Syria, killing and wounding dozens and setting off car bombs, activists and officials said.

The two-pronged attack on the northeastern city of Hassakeh and the border town of Kobani came two days after an Islamic State spokesman acknowledged the group might lose some battles but would not be defeated.

The spokesman, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, had urged militants to strike back at their foes during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and "shake the ground beneath them."

The early morning assault by IS captured part of Hassakeh, which long has been divided between Syrian Kurds and the military forces of President Bashar Assad.

The militants also hit Kobani, a northern town on Syria's border with Turkey that had become a symbol of Kurdish resistance against the Islamic State extremists.

The Kurdish forces, backed by a campaign of U.S.-led airstrikes, drove the militants from Kobani and surrounding villages in January.

Thursday's fighting in Kobani killed 35 civilians and Kurdish fighters, and 14 extremists, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

It was the first time in six months the militants, who set off three car bombs, had managed to enter the town, the group said.

The IS militants, wearing Syrian rebel uniforms and carrying flags of the mainstream Free Syrian Army to deceive the Kurdish defenders, launched their attack from areas to the south and west of Kobani, said Redur Khalil, a spokesman for the Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG.

Ghalia Nehme, a commander with the Kurdish Women's Protection Units, said by telephone from Kobani its fighters were defending a position in the town.

Another Kurdish official in Kobani, Idriss Naasan, said the fighting was intense in the morning but sporadic at midday.

"We hear cracks of gunfire every now and then," Naasan said around noon, adding he had heard explosions of unknown origin.