Iraqi Kurds agree reinforcements in fight against Islamic State for embattled Kobane
Peshmerga fighters in transit to Kobane on Syria-Turkey border to join comrades and US air strikes against Islamic State jihaidsts who have threatened to overrun the town
Iraqi Kurdish lawmakers agreed on Wednesday to send much-needed reinforcements to fellow Kurds battling to stop the key Syrian border town of Kobane from falling into the hands of Islamic State (IS).
The approval came as Turkey criticised US air drops of ammunition and weapons to Kobane’s Kurdish defenders, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying some of the deliveries had fallen into the wrong hands.
Backed by air strikes from a US-led coalition, Kurdish militia have been defending Kobane against a fierce IS offensive for more than a month.
The town on the Turkish border has become a crucial battleground in the fight against IS, an extremist Sunni Muslim group that has seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq.
Turkey said this week it would allow Iraqi Kurd peshmerga fighters to travel to relieve Kobane’s defenders, and the Iraqi region’s parliament approved the move on Wednesday.
“The Kurdistan parliament decided to send forces to Kobane with the aim of supporting the fighters there and protecting Kobane,” speaker Yusef Mohammed Sadeq said.
Mustafa Qader, responsible for the peshmerga, said a decision would be made in the coming days about the number to be sent.