Beirut (AFP) - At least 44 members of the Islamic State group were killed in clashes with Kurdish troops in Syria on Thursday, a monitoring group said.

Thirty of the jihadists were killed fighting against members of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in the village of Qassiab in Hasakeh province, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The YPG regained control of the village, two days after it was seized by the jihadists, said the Britain-based group, which has a wide network of activists on the ground in Syria.

Three Kurdish fighters were also killed in the clashes, it added.

Another 14 jihadists and an YPG fighter were killed fighting in the flashpoint town Kobane in northern Syria, said the Observatory.

Fighting over Kobane began in mid-September, when the IS launched a bid to take it over.

A US-led coalition has been launching air strikes against IS positions in Syria since September 23 and the YPG have also received backing from Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga and from some Syrian rebel groups.

On Wednesday, the coalition launched eight strikes against IS positions in Kobane, which is known as Ain al-Arab in Arabic.

Elsewhere, Syrian air force raids killed at least 21 people, including several children, in the IS-held areas of Al-Bab and Qbasin in the northern province of Aleppo, said the Observatory.

The regime air force has killed thousands of people, mostly civilians living in areas out of government control, ever since it was first deployed in the country's war in July 2012.

The UN and international rights groups have repeatedly called on the government to refrain from using its air force against inhabited areas.

Nearly four years of civil war ravaging the country have killed an estimated 200,000 people and also displaced half of the population.

Moscow is going on a huge shopping spree for weapons and military equipment.

Russian defense companies boosted sales by more than 20% last year, driven by demand from the country's military, according to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

That compares with a 2% decline in sales globally, largely due to a weaker performance by American companies, which account for more than half of the world's arms trade.

Russia has begun investing heavily in upgrades to its military capabilities. President Vladimir Putin plans to spend more than 20 trillion rubles ($700 billion) bringing equipment up to date by 2025.

The modernization program is continuing despite an economic crisis that has already forced Russia to adopt an austerity budget for next year.

Defense and national security were the only departments to escape cuts of at least 5%. Spending on the military is set to rise by 85% between 2012 and 2017.

Russia's defense budget is now the third largest in the world, behind the U.S. and China.

Airfields, hundreds of fighter jets and a new fleet of battle tanks are in the works. Russia is also developing new long-range missiles, has acquired an advanced nuclear submarine and is working on eight new vessels for the navy, due for delivery by 2020.

Related: Kalashnikovs get new look to boost sales

Russia's relations with the West are the most strained they've been since the end of the Cold War. The U.S. and Europe have imposed sanctions against Russian companies and officials for annexing Crimea and providing support for rebels in eastern Ukraine.

The crisis in Ukraine could provide another boost to Russian arms sales.

"It is too early to say, but the conflict is likely to have an impact on some specific orders -- especially conventional ammunition," said Aude Fleurant, research director at the Stockholm institute.

Sanctions are unlikely to put much of a dent in sales at Russian defense companies, because they largely supply the domestic markets, or countries such as China and India.

But they have killed one $3 billion strategic deal, at least for now. France has halted the delivery of two Mistral warships until further notice.

(CNN)

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters stand near burning vehicles during a suicide attack carried out by the Islamic State group in Kesarej village, south of Zumar, Nineveh province December 18, 2014. REUTERS/Ari Jalal

By Gulsen Solaker

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey and Iraq, both worried by the advance of Islamic State, pledged on Thursday to work towards greater military cooperation in their fight against the ultra radical Sunni militants.

Turkey is already training Kurdish peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq to help them battle Islamic State insurgents, who control territory in Iraq and Syria.

Some major battles are being fought very close to Turkish borders, and Turkey has become a haven for thousands who fled the militants.

Turkey is ready to work with Iraq to extend its military assistance, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said at a joint news conference with his Iraqi counterpart, Haider al-Abadi.

Abadi, the first Iraqi prime minister to visit Turkey since his predecessor Nouri al-Maliki's visit in 2010, signaled Turkey could also be sending arms to Iraq.

"There are preparations being made with the assistance of the Turkish side in providing us with weapons," Abadi said.

Turkey, a NATO member with a 1,200 km border with Syria and Iraq, began its training of Iraqi peshmerga forces last month, and said this could be extended to Iraq's National Guard.

"Our defense ministers will carry out a more detailed study on this issue. We already have provided support in terms of military training. We are ready to give whatever further assistance we can in these areas," Davutoglu said.

Ankara has refused to take a frontline military role in the air offensive mounted by a U.S.-led coalition against the insurgents, saying there could be no lasting stability with air strikes alone.

Supported by air strikes, Iraqi Kurdish fighters this week broke an Islamic State siege of Sinjar mountain in western Iraq, freeing hundreds of Yazidis who had been trapped there for months.

Abadi said Iraqi forces were fighting to root out the militants and were regaining territory.

"Their grip is weakening," he said.

Turkey and Iraq have had tense relations for years. Maliki's government was angered by Ankara strengthening ties with northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, with which Baghdad had been locked in a bitter feud over oil.

Relations have improved since Abadi took office in September and since Baghdad and Arbil clinched an initial deal on the sharing of oil export revenues.

Contrary to Maliki, Abadi said Iraq supported increasing its oil exports via a Kurdish-built pipeline going through Turkey. "We would like strengthen this agreement and carry on these exports via Turkey. This is in the interest of Iraq."

(Aditional reporting by Saif Hameed; Writing by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

Tehran (AFP) - Iran launched extensive military drills on Thursday, local media reported, in a show of strength stretching several hundred kilometres from the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Aden.

The exercises are set to last six days and involve ballistic missile and drone testing, according to military officials.

Close to 13,000 personnel will take part in the drills, which will be the first time Iran has organised military manuevers so far from its coastline.

The southeastern provinces of Hormozgan and Sistan-Baluchistan will also be included in the tests, with the Iranian army, air force, navy and Revolutionary Guards participating.

"One of the aims of these manoeuvres is to increase our defensive capability... and to transfer this experience to young" personnel, army chief general Abdolrahim Moussavi told state television.

The drills will finish with a military parade on December 30.

Last week Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayari called on foreign forces in the region to "leave the area" in order to avoid incidents.

The manoeuvres will pose "no danger to foreign forces in the Persian Gulf," he added, in an apparent reference to the US Fifth Fleet, which is stationed in Bahrain.

Iran's navy has boosted its international presence over the past few years, in particular to help guard commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden from pirate attacks.