Turkey allows rebels to join fight

Turkey is to allow hundreds of Syrian rebels to head to the embattled town of Kobani along the Syrian-Turkish border to help Kurdish fighters in the battle against Islamic State militants.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) will send 1,300 fighters to the Syrian town.

Kurdish Syrian fighters have been battling militants who have been trying to seize Kobani since mid-September. A US-led coalition is also shelling militant positions around the town.

Mr Erdogan told reporters during a tour of Estonia and Latvia that the FSA fighters were negotiating their route with Kurdish forces in the town.