Air strikes in Syria by the U.S.-led coalition reportedly drove Islamic State fighters back from Kobane, a key city near the Turkish border. Kurdish fighters have also been battling the militants on the ground since Islamic State took parts of the city earlier this week. As many as 160,000 Syrians have fled across the border into Turkey.
The most dramatic coverage of the air campaign so far has come from an observer on the ground: Twitter user @cahitstorm has been live tweeting the fierce gun battles and bombings—for much of the time hiding in a pepper field near the city. (Note: @cahitstorm often refers to #daesh, which is another term for Islamic State.)