The fight for the Syrian border town of Kobani goes on. Heavy fighting erupted in the town as dusk fell on Monday (20 October), with the clatter of small arms and tracer fire, as well as the thud of mortar rounds and big explosions of two airstrikes that resounded across the frontier.

Kobani fireball
Smoke and flames rise following an explosion in the Syrian town of Kobani, also known as Ain al-Arab, as seen from the southeastern Turkish village of Mursitpinar AFP
Kobani fireball
An explosion rocks Kobani during a reported suicide car bomb attack by Islamic State militants on a Kurdish People's Protection Unit position in the city Getty Images
kobani spectators
The sun sets in a fire-red sky as Kurdish people watch the bombardment of Kobani from the Turkish border AFP

Iraqi Kurds are preparing to send backup forces from their peshmerga militia to the Syrian town to join the fight against Islamic State militants.

Kurdish militias in Kobani have been fighting off an Islamic State offensive since September without outside help apart from periodic US-led airstrikes on the insurgents.

Isis Kobani
A US-led coalition aircraft flies over Kobani Getty Images
Isis Kobani
Smoke and flames rise over Kobani after an airstrike, as seen from the Mursitpinar crossing Reuters
Isis Kobani
Kurdish people observe smoke rising from Kobani on the horizon AFP
Isis Kobani
A news photographer takes pictures of Kobani from a hill near the Mursitpinar border crossing in Turkey Reuters

Turkey has said it would allow Iraqi Kurdish fighters to reinforce their fellow Kurds in Kobani.

Reinforcements getting through could mark a turning point in the battle for Kobani, where Syrian Kurds have struggled for weeks against the better-armed Isis fighters.

Isis Kobani
Alleged Islamic State fighters walk up a hill on the western outskirts of Kobani AFP
Isis Kobani
Trenches are seen on the western side of the besieged Syrian city of Kobani Getty Images
Isis Kobani
An alleged Islamic State militant takes cover behind a wall in Kobani after a US-led coalition strike AFP
Isis Kobani
An armed man, thought to be a People's Protection Unit (YPG) fighter, stands near Kurdish flags at a checkpoint on a hill in Kobani Reuters
kobani cars
Abandoned cars and Kurdish Syrian refugees are seen in the 'no-man's land' near the Mursitpinar border crossing AFP

The United States has air-dropped arms to help the Kurds there resist an Islamic State assault.

The main Syrian Kurdish armed group, the Popular Protection Unit (YPG), said it received "a large quantity" of ammunition and weapons.

kobani air strike
A fireball explodes over the Syrian town of Kobani after an airstrike, as seen from the Mursitpinar border crossing Reuters
kobani air strike
A US Air Force B1-B bomber plane flies above Kobani AFP
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