Militants of the Takfiri group, ISIL executed at least 23 Syrian Kurds, among them women and children, in a village south of the border town of Kobani on Thursday.

Militants of the Takfiri group, ISIL (so-called Islamic State in Iraq and levant) executed at least 23 Syrian Kurds, among them women and children, in a village south of the border town of Kobani on Thursday, a monitor said.

ISIL insurgents " shot dead at least 23 people in the Kurdish village of Barkh Butan, including women and children and residents who had taken up arms to fight," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

ISIL launched a surprise attack on Kobani on Thursday, using at least two suicide car bombs and clashing with Kurdish forces.

Kobani, on the border with Turkey, is an important symbol in the battle against the Takfiris, having been secured by Kurdish militia in January after four months of ferocious fighting.

ISIL militants briefly entered Barkh Butan, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Kobani, in the morning but withdrew after US-led coalition air strikes and the arrival of Kurdish forces, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.

At least five militants were killed in clashes with residents, the Observatory said.

Arin Shekhmos, a Kurdish activist in northern Syria, confirmed the executions.

"ISIL committed a massacre in Barkh Butan, killing some 20 civilians," Shekhmos said.