Fierce fighting has broken out once again in northern parts of the beleaguered Kurdish Syrian town of Kobani after a relatively quiet day on Monday.<br /><br />Earlier the town’s Kurdish defenders appeared to have driven out ISIL fighters.<br /><br />Kurds there are to be reinforced by Iraqi Kurdish forces after the Turkish government made what is being seen as a policy U-turn to allow Peshmerga to cross its border with Syria to help fight the extremists.<br /><br />Ankara refuses to arm or offer direct help to the Syrian Kurds defending Kobani because of their ties to the PKK, a group that waged a decades-long militant campaign for Kurdish rights within Turkey. <br /><br />However growing pressure from the US, European Union and NATO has apparently resulted in Ankara rethinking its position.<br /><br />The move follows the US’s surprise air drop of weapons and medical supplies into Kobani.<br /><br />The US support and Peshmerga reinforcements could mark a turning point for Kobani.<br /><br />Although largely deserted after residents fled into Turkey in the face of the advancing extremists, Syrian Kurdish fighters have been holding out against better armed ISIL for weeks.
