Kurds push back ISIL in Syria's Kobane: monitor

BEIRUT - Agence France-Presse

People watch as smokes rises from the town of Kobane on October 26, 2014, at the Turkish border near the southeastern village of Mürşitpınar, Şanlıurfa province. AFP Photo

Kurdish fighters have seized the security and government district of Syria's Kobane from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and now control 80 percent of the border town, a monitoring group said Jan. 5.
     
"The People's Protection Units [YPG] fighting the jihadists for nearly four months have full control of the security district," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
      
The Britain-based group said Kurdish fighters had seized control of the area after fierce clashes since Sunday night.
      
A US-led coalition against ISIL also carried out at least three air strikes against the jihadist group in the town on the Turkish border, the Observatory said.
      
At least 14 ISIL members were killed in the fighting, it added.
      
ISIL began its assault on Kobane in mid-September and came close to overrunning the town, which is also known as Ain al-Arab.
      
But Kurdish fighters, backed by international air strikes, have been able to gradually recapture territory in the small town, which is strategic because of its location on the border.