Key parts of Kobane, Syria, seized by Kurdish troops

KOBANE , Iraq, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- The besieged city of Kobane, Syria, is now 80 percent controlled by Kurdish fighters, activists said Tuesday.

Iraqi and Syrian Kurdish troops have been fighting the Islamic State since the end of October, working to repel IS forces which advanced on Kobane, on the border between Turkey and Syria, and overran most of the city in September. U.S.-led airstrikes and fresh reinforcements have pushed IS back far enough that the city's security district and police headquarters have been retaken by the Kurds, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. U.S. Central Command reported eight airstrikes Sunday on Kobane which destroyed 11 IS positions. The push for the security district by Kurdish fighters, known as the People's Protection Units (YPG), began Sunday with numerous clashes in the streets. Kobane official Idriss Nassan said the IS was confined to eastern districts of the city.

"Hopefully within days the (YPG) units will be in control of the whole city," he said. "The advance has become faster and the air strikes are more intense."

Another group of Iraqi Kurdish troops, known as Peshmerga, will arrive in Kobane soon, Cabba Yaver, Secretary General of Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government's Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs said.

"Our Peshmerga fighters in Kobane are tired. We will send the third round of troops consisting of 156 new fighters."