The big fighting in Syria right now is in the north, yet our media don't realise. The YPG are capturing several villages every day from the jihadists. Not in a random manner. They are strategically going after major border crossings and encircling jihadist forces.
The Kurds in the north were out of the main battles for a long time. Their militias were lightly armed and maintained their enclaves. They have a democratic structure.
After the FSA gained control over most of Aleppo the al Nusra and ISIS forces headed north to ethnically cleanse the Kurds. They were well armed with technicals, tanks and artillery. So they had huge successes. Large numbers of Kurdish refugees poured over the border into Kurdish Iraq.
The Kurds responded by sending lots of seasoned fighters from Turkey and Iraq. These guys easily out fight the islamic nutters. And now they are in the middle of a major campaign. Not just to win back territory, but to smite those who tried to ethnically cleanse them.
YPG on Wikipedia:
People's Protection Units - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia