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BEIRUT (AP) — U.S. coalition-led warplanes struck jihadis attacking a town near the Turkish border for the first time Saturday, as well as positions including wheat silos in the country's east, activists and a Kurdish official said.

The coalition, which began its aerial campaign against Islamic State fighters in Syria early Tuesday, aims to roll back and ultimately crush the extremist group, which has created a proto-state spanning the Syria-Iraq border. Along the way, the militants have massacred captured Syrian and Iraqi troops, terrorized minorities in both countries and beheaded two American journalists and a British aid worker.

Nawaf Khalil, a spokesman for Syria's Kurdish Democratic Union Party, or PYD, said some of the strikes targeted for the first time Islamic State group positions near the northern town of Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab. The town has been under attack by jihadis for days and Khalil said the strikes destroyed two tanks.

He said the town was later shelled by jihadis, wounding several civilians.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the coalition's strikes near Kobani came amid heavy fighting between Islamic State fighters and members of the Kurdish force known as the People's Protection Units, or YPK. It said there were casualties among jihadis.

The activists had no immediate word on casualties from Saturday's strikes. The Observatory reported Friday that 13 civilians have been killed by the strikes since they began.

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In this Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014 photo released by the U.S. Navy, F/A-18 Super Hornets fly over the a …

Kurdish fighter Majid Goran told the Associated Press by telephone from Kobani that two bombs were dropped over the village of Ali Shan, near Kobani at 6 a.m. (0300 GMT).

Goran said however, that the strikes were ineffective and that the positions hit "were empty."

Turkey's Dogan news agency reported Saturday that the sound of heavy fighting could be heard from the Turkish border village of Karaca. The agency said Kurdish forces retook some positions it had lost to the Islamic militants a few days ago. It did not cite a source for the report.

Dozens of people wounded in the fighting arrived in Turkey for treatment on Saturday, it said.

The Observatory said the strikes in the east targeted compounds for the Islamic State group in the central province of Homs and the northern regions of Raqqa and Aleppo. The group said 31 explosions were heard in the city of Raqqa, the group's de facto capital, and its suburbs.

The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, said the strikes in the east hit the province of Deir el-Zour as well as Raqqa. The LCC also said the coalition targeted wheat silos west of Deir el-Zour city.

It was not immediately clear why the silos were targeted. Saturday's strikes came after two days of strikes by the United States and its Arab allies on a dozen makeshift oil-producing facilities in Deir el-Zour, trying to cripple one of the militants' primary sources of cash — black market oil sales that the U.S. says produce up to $2 million a day.

Near the capital Damascus, Syrian troops entered the once rebel-held northeastern suburb of Adra after days of clashes, Syrian state TV said. The advance came two days after troops captured the nearby Adra industrial zone.

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Associated Press writers Albert Aji and Mohammed Rasool in Suruc, Turkey, contributed to this report.

U.S.-led coalition launches new airstrikes on IS

A wave of warplanes target and hit jihadists during an attack on a town near the Turkish border.
No immediate word on casualties

Following Israel’s footsteps in denouncing Mahmoud Abbas’ speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, the United States reportedly hit out at the Palestinian President, calling his speech “offensive” and “provocative,” according to media reports.

“President Abbas’ speech today included offensive characterizations that were deeply disappointing and which we reject,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki reportedly said. “Such provocative statements are counterproductive and undermine efforts to create a positive atmosphere and restore trust between the parties.”

In his address to the U.N. General Assembly on Friday, Abbas had accused Israel of carrying out a “war of genocide” in the Gaza Strip, terming the recently-concluded 50-day-long war a “series of absolute war crimes.”

“We will not forget and we will not forgive, and we will not allow war criminals to escape punishment,” Abbas reportedly said, adding that the Palestinians had been forced to face the “most abhorrent form of apartheid” under Israeli occupation.

He also said that he would push for a U.N. resolution on setting a deadline for Israel to withdraw its forces out of Palestinian lands.

Israel had earlier reacted angrily to Abbas’ speech, denouncing it as “a speech of incitement filled with lies.”

Abbas' speech “highlights once again how he does not want and cannot be a partner for a reasonable diplomatic agreement,” Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said, according to a report by The Times of Israel.

“Abbas complements Hamas when he deals with diplomatic terrorism and slanders Israel with false accusations,” Lieberman reportedly said.

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Members of Qatar women's basketball team walk off the court after withdrawing ahead of their match against Mongolia …

Prior to their first game on Wednesday, members of the Qatari women's basketball team were told they had to remove their white headscarves, which they wear in observance of their Islamic faith, because International Basketball Federation (FIBA) rules do not allow “headgear, hair accessories, and jewelry.”

The women chose to forfeit the game instead. On Thursday, they officially withdrew from the tournament prior to their second scheduled game. The competition is the world's second-largest multi-sport competion, with about 9,500 athletes representing 45 countries.

Athletes competing in rowing, badminton and triathalon, have been wearing religious headscarves without incident because those sports' governing bodies allow them. Each sport at the Asian Games has to follow its governing body's regulations. The Qatari team was aware of FIBA's stance regarding hijabs but had hoped FIBA would make an allowance.

"We are here to push the international association that all Muslim teams are ready to compete in any competition," Alham Salem M. al-Mana said on Wednesday. She and her teammates were wearing headscarves designed specifically for female athletes, similar to those worn by soccer players.

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FILE - In this Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014 file photo, Soraya Aghaeihajiagha of Iran returns the shuttlecock against …

Many Muslims have criticized the rule as discriminatory and are pushing for FIBA to follow FIFA’s lead. Soccer’s governing body lifted its ban on religiously mandated headgear in March. The rule had forced the Iranian women’s soccer team to be disqualified from the London Olympics in 2012, even though Iran’s legal dress code for women requires wearing hijabs.

In response to the Qatari women’s team having to withdraw from the tournament, Human Rights Watch challenged FIBA to prove that the headscarves are unsafe. "In the case of basketball, it's difficult to see how a ban on the headscarf is anything other than an unnecessary restriction on the players' rights to religious freedom and personal autonomy," the organization said in a statement to Reuters.

FIBA officials said that they have started a two-year testing phase to see what can be safely worn during competition, but the trials are only happening at the national level. Trials will not be permitted in international competition, according to Reuters.

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Danielle Elliot is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at delliot@yahoo-inc.com or follow her on Twitter!

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U.S. conducts another round of air strikes against Islamic militants

BEIRUT (AP) — U.S.-led coalition warplanes struck Islamic State fighters in Syria attacking a town near the Turkish border for the first time Saturday, as well as positions in the country's east, activists and a Kurdish official said.

The Islamic State group's assault on the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani has sent more than 100,000 refugees streaming across the border into Turkey in recent days as Kurdish forces from Iraq and Turkey have raced to the front lines to defend the town.

Nawaf Khalil, a spokesman for Syria's Kurdish Democratic Union Party, or PYD, said the strikes targeted Islamic State positions near Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, destroying two tanks. He said the jihadi fighters later shelled the town, wounding a number of civilians.

The United States and five Arab allies launched an aerial campaign against Islamic State fighters in Syria early Tuesday with the aim of rolling back and ultimately crushing the extremist group, which has created a proto-state spanning the Syria-Iraq border. Along the way, the militants have massacred captured Syrian and Iraqi troops, terrorized minorities in both countries and beheaded two American journalists and a British aid worker.

The latest airstrikes came as Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem told the Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV that airstrikes alone "will not be able wipe out" the Islamic State group. Speaking from New York where he is attending the U.N. General Assembly, al-Moallem said in remarks broadcast Saturday that the U.S. should work with Damascus if it wants to win the war.

"They must know the importance of coordination with the people of this country because they know what goes on there," al-Moallem said. The U.S. has ruled out any coordination with President Bashar Assad's government, which is at war with the Islamic State group as well as Western-backed rebels.

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In this Sept. 23, 2014 photo provided by the U.S Air Force, two F-22A Raptor pilots prepare to take …

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the coalition's strikes near Kobani came amid heavy fighting between the Islamic State group and members of the Kurdish force known as the People's Protection Units, or YPK.

The Britain-based group, which relies on activists inside Syria, had no immediate word on casualties from Saturday's strikes. The Observatory reported Friday that 13 civilians have been killed by the strikes since they began.

Kurdish fighter Majid Goran told the Associated Press by telephone from Kobani that two bombs were dropped over the nearby village of Ali Shar, at 6 a.m. (0300 GMT), but that the positions they struck were empty.

Turkey's Dogan news agency reported Saturday that the sound of heavy fighting could be heard from the Turkish border village of Karaca. The agency said Kurdish forces retook some positions they had lost to the Islamic militants a few days ago. It did not cite a source for the report.

Dozens of people wounded in the fighting arrived in Turkey for treatment on Saturday, it said.

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In this Friday, Sept. 26, 2014 photo, children from Kobani celebrate as Kurds from Turkey and Syria …

Another Kurdish fighter, Ismet Sheikh Hasan, said the Turkish military on Saturday night retaliated after stray shells landed on Turkish territory, firing in the Ali Shar region. He said the Turkish action left Kurdish fighters in the middle of the crossfire.

He said that on Friday, the Islamic militants were attacking the Kobani area from the east with tanks and artillery, advancing on Ali Shar and Haja. He said some 20 people were killed, including Kurdish fighters and civilians, while another 50 people were wounded.

The fighting around Kobani sparked one of the largest single outflows of refugees since Syria's conflict began more than three years ago. The Syrian Kurdish forces have long been one of the most effective fighting units battling the Islamic State, but the tide has turned in recent weeks as the Islamic militants have attacked with heavy weapons likely looted from neighboring Iraq.

The Observatory said other coalition airstrikes targeted Islamic State compounds in the central province of Homs and the northern regions of Raqqa and Aleppo. The group said 31 explosions were heard in the city of Raqqa, the group's de facto capital, and its suburbs.

The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, said the strikes in the east hit the province of Deir el-Zour as well as Raqqa. The LCC also said the coalition targeted grain silos west of Deir el-Zour city.

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In this Friday, Sept. 26, 2014 photo, Kurds from Turkey, left, and Syria break down the barbed wire …

It was not immediately clear why the silos were targeted.

Max Blumenfeld, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said the U.S. airstrikes "don't target food or anything else than can be used by the civilian population." But he said that until the military reviews images from planes that participated in the strikes, he could not rule out that silos were hit.

He said the airstrikes are aimed at specific Islamic State targets such as command and control centers, transportation and logistics, and oil refineries, "but not food that could have an impact upon the civilian population."

"Our targets are structures that combatants would use," he said.

Blumenfeld later said the U.S. did target what he called an Islamic State grain storage facility on Tuesday near Boukamal, a town close to the Iraqi border which was seized by the Islamic State group earlier this year.

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In this Friday, Sept. 26, 2014 photo, Kurds from Turkey, left, and Syria break down the barbed wire …

In recent days coalition warplanes had struck oil-producing facilities in eastern Syria in a bid to cut off one of the Islamic State group's main revenue streams — black market oil sales that the U.S. says generate up to $2 million a day.

The coalition striking Syria includes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Jordan, and the strikes are an extension of the U.S. campaign in neighboring Iraq launched in August.

Near the capital Damascus, Syrian troops meanwhile entered the once rebel-held northeastern suburb of Adra after days of clashes, Syrian state TV said. The advance came two days after troops captured the nearby Adra industrial zone.

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Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, Thomas Strong in Washington and Mohammed Rasool in Suruc, Turkey, contributed to this report.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Russian foreign minister issued a blistering attack on the West and NATO on Saturday, accusing them of being unable to change their Cold War "genetic code" and saying the United States must abandon its claims to "eternal uniqueness."

Sergey Lavrov's assault appeared to be an extension of the increasingly anti-Western stance of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is riding a wave of popularity at home with his neo-nationalist rhetoric and policies.

Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, Lavrov said the crisis in Ukraine was the result of a coup d'etat in that country backed by the United States and the European Union for the purpose of pulling Kiev out of its "organic role as a binding link" between East and West, denying it the opportunity for "neutral and non-bloc status."

Lavrov also said the Russian annexation of Crimea earlier this year was the choice of the largely Russian-speaking population there. Former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred control over the strategic Black Sea region to Ukraine from Moscow in the 1950s.

While the rhetoric was tough, Andrew Weiss, a top Russia expert at the Carnegie Foundation, said the Lavrov speech "hewed closely to themes the Russians have put forward throughout the Ukraine crisis."

Immediately before Lavrov spoke, the German foreign minister said Russia's actions to retake Crimea were a crime.

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Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, of Germany, addresses the 69th United Nations General Asse …

"Russia has, with its annexation of Crimea, unilaterally changed existing borders in Europe and thus broke international law," Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in his address to the world body. He spent considerable time speaking about what the West sees as Russian meddling in Ukraine, a nation on the verge of bankruptcy after a series of corrupt post-independence regimes.

Lavrov made no mention of Western allegations that Russia has sent troops and heavy weapons into eastern Ukraine in support of pro-Russian rebels there who have taken over a number of key industrial cities after the ouster of former pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich. His departure followed months of demonstrations against his corrupt rule.

Russia routinely denies its forces are involved.

Lavrov rejected that Western economic sanctions would cause Russia to reverse course on the issue of Ukraine.

"Attempts to put pressure on Russia and to compel it to abandon its values, truth and justice have no prospects whatsoever," Lavrov said.

The regime has been using the sanctions in a propaganda drive to build support at home, creating anger against the U.S. and Europe as a distraction from the pain that Russia's citizens absorb from the punitive measures.

The Kremlin's growing anger with the United States and Western Europe springs from long-standing and bitter complaints over the past two decades about NATO expansion into former Soviet satellite nations in Eastern Europe and some Baltic nations, once Soviet republics. Lavrov insisted Russia was promised, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, that the expansion would not occur.

There now is a cease-fire, though routinely violated, in eastern Ukraine. Lavrov and other Russian officials now say they believe a settlement is possible, given the wobbly cease-fire and new Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's decision to delay implementation of the country's economic association agreement with the European Union.

But, Lavrov said, the Ukraine crisis should be a lesson to Washington and NATO against trying to break "the deep-rooted and fraternal ties between the two peoples" of Russia and Ukraine.