Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Kurdish Peshmerga Arrive with Weapons in Syria's Kobani

Kurdish Peshmerga Arrive with Weapons in Syria's Kobani

MURSITPINAR Turkey/BEIRUT - Iraqi Kurdish forces arrived in the Syrian town of Kobani with heavy weapons to help Syrian Kurds fend off attempts by Islamic State insurgents to seize the town and cement control in the Turkish border region.

Syrian Kurdish fighters welcomed the fighters who are known as peshmerga or "those who defy death", and said that with the weapons they had brought with them, they could help tip the balance in a battle raging for more than 40 days.

The peshmerga are expected to take part in the military action in Kobani in the next few hours, Kurdish officials said.

"What was lacking is the weapons and ammunition, so the arrival of more of it plus the fighters will help tip the balance of the battle," Idris Nassan, deputy foreign minister of Kobani district, told Reuters by telephone from Kobani.

"The whole issue is the weapons and ammunition, of course more fighters will help."

At least one U.S.-led air strike hit Islamic State positions around Kobani on Saturday, he said. "The sun is shining and the sky is clear so the warplanes can actively work today."

The arrival of the 150 Iraqi fighters would mark the first time Turkey has allowed ground troops from outside Syria to reinforce Syrian Kurds, who have been defending Kobani for more than 40 days.

Despite having limited strategic significance, Kobani has become a powerful international symbol in the battle against the hardline Sunni Muslim insurgents who have captured large expanses of Iraq and Syria and declared an Islamic "caliphate".

Kurdish officials in the town of Kobani said that the peshmerga were not involved in fighting which took place on Friday night but they were getting ready to participate in battles on Saturday.

"Right now the peshmerga are making preparations. They are taking up their positions, preparing their guns and are ready for combat. They will be fighting today at the front," said Enver Muslim, the top Kurdish administrative official in the Kobani district, told Reuters by telephone from the town.

"Everyone here, civilians, the YPG (the main Syrian Kurdish armed group defending the town), we are all in very good spirits after their arrival."

The U.S. military said it continued to target Islamic State militants near Kobani on Thursday and Friday. It said four air strikes damaged four fighting positions used by the militant group as well as one of its buildings.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 100 Islamic State fighters were killed in the past three days.

Iraqi peshmerga were not the only group to enter the Kurdish town. Around 200 fighters from the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a term used to refer to dozens of armed groups fighting against both Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Islamic State, have also arrived in Kobani to help defend the town.(Reuters)