Kurdish fighters gained ground from the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant terrorist group in fierce battles in the Syrian town of Kobani overnight

Kurdish fighters gained ground from the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant terrorist group in fierce battles in the Syrian town of Kobani overnight, a monitoring group said on Monday.
  
The town on the border with Turkey has become a highly symbolic battleground in the war against ISIL with the US-led coalition launching near daily air strikes.
  
Kurdish fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG) advanced in both the east and the northeast of the town, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
  
"At least 18 Islamic State militants were killed in the fighting, as well as a number of Kurdish fighters," the Britain-based group's director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP, adding that both sides were using heavy weaponry. He said control of the town was still almost evenly divided between the Kurds and the terrorists, who began their assault on Kobani more than three months ago.

Kurdish forces have managed to cling on, in part thanks to the coalition air strikes, as well as the deployment of Iraqi Kurdish reinforcements. The Observatory said the coalition carried out at least five air strikes in Kobani overnight but had no immediate word on casualties.