ERBIL- Joint Syrian and Iraqi Kurdish forces are making steady progress in breaking the Islamic State’s nearly two month long siege of Syrian border town Kobane, according to Peshmerga officers. On Tuesday US-led coalition airstrikes hit targets south and east of the city - including sites along the road to Aleppo - in response to ISIS artillery shelling. This followed a night of intense fighting between Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Islamic State (ISIS) forces in the south of the city, which continued until this morning, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Observatory reported that YPG advanced in several areas, and that Peshmerga forces had assisted them in certain fronts south of the city. It cited sources saying that ISIS was going to launch offensives in Homs and Hama in order to boost the morale of fighters frustrated in Kobane. Peshmerga officials told Rudaw that four fighters from the mainstream western-backed rebel Free Syrian Army had been killed in the fighting on Tuesday, and that one had been injured. Approximately 200 lightly armed Free Syrian Army forces arrived to reinforce YPG fighters in late October, followed days later by Peshmerga forces bringing heavy weapons and artillery. Peshmerga also said the bodies of 11 ISIS militants had been discovered after a series of clashes. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates over 1000 people have been killed in the Kobane area since the siege began in mid-September, with the majority killed from ISIS. No Peshmerga deaths have been reported thus far. Salih Muslim, head of the political wing of the YPG, told reporters in Paris that he was confident “they would recapture the town in a very short time,” and YPG fighters are in good spirits after 56 days of fighting, although he entreated western governments to provide more military support Syrian Kurds.
