Kurdish Forces Push Back ISIS Attack on Kobani

Amateur video posted on YouTube purportedly showed some of the deadly violence taking place near the predominantly Kurdish town of Kobani. Situated near the Turkish-Syrian border, the town has been a battleground between Islamic State fighters (IS) and Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) in recent days. On Thursday (September 25), Kurdish officials said the YPG had pushed back an advance by IS in overnight clashes. The Islamist militants had launched a fresh offensive to capture Kobani more than a week ago after months of fighting. More than 100,000 Kurds have since fled the town and surrounding villages, crossing over into Turkey. A third night of U.S.-led air strikes late on Wednesday (September 23), targeted IS-controlled oil refineries in eastern Syria as the United States and its allies tried to stem a major source of revenue for the al Qaeda offshoot, U.S. officials said. At least 14 IS fighters were killed in the air strikes.