ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Islamic State, or ISIS, has attacked Syria's ethnically Kurdish town of Kobani on Thursday with a wave of car bombs, random shootings and vehicle-born ground troops, said Rudaw reporter Omar Kalo who is at the scene of the attack.
"Three suicide car bombers detonated their payloads, inflicting heavy casualties among civilians,” said Kalo.
A statement released Thursday afternoon by the Kurdish YPG, or People's Protection Units, said 45 civilians had been killed by the bombings and shootings. The YPG claimed to have killed 30 ISIS fighters.
According to Kalo, among the civilians killed were 20 residents of Bakha Botan, a village 20km outside Kobani, who were executed by ISIS.
The Rudaw reporter said residents had taken up arms to defend themselves and the number of ISIS attackers was unknown due to the intensity of the fighting.
“Groups of ISIS fighters are driving around Kobani's alleys and streets killing civilians,” said Kalo.
The first blast occurred as ISIS fighters attacked from three sides of the town, a YPG official said.
“I saw a woman saying ISIS militants broke into her house and killed all members of her family,” said Kalo.
According to Fathollah Hussaini, a Kurdish political official in Rojava, told Rudaw by phone that ISIS militants used YPG uniforms to infiltrate Kobani before the attack.
Kobani was liberated from ISIS control in January after months of heavy fighting. The town is a powerful symbol of Kurdish resistance, some referring to it as the "Kurdish Stalingrad."
BELOW: Rudaw photos from Thursday's clashes in Kobani
