The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Sunday that, in the six-week battle between Islamic State militants and Kurdish fighters for control of Kobani, Syria, nearly 500 jihadists and more than 300 Kurds have been killed. That total is in addition to another 550 or more killed, mostly Islamic State fighters, by U.S.-led airstrikes in the last month.
Developments in Kobani, Syria - October 26, 2014

1
Kurdish refugees watch from a hilltop as thick smoke rises from the Syrian town of Kobani during heavy fighting between Islamic State and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, seen from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border, Oct. 26, 2014.

2
Smoke rises above the Syrian town of Kobani during fighting between Islamic State and Kurdish forces, seen from a hilltop on the outskirts of Suruc, Turkey, near the Turkey-Syria border, Oct. 26, 2014.

3
A Turkish soldier stops a man on a hill near the Mursitpinar crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border, Oct. 26, 2014.

4
Turkish military look toward observers as they try to clear a hill near the Mursitpinar crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border, Oct. 26, 2014.