Iraqi Kurds send fighters to Kobane
Kurdish regional parliament in Iraq authorises deployment of Kurdish peshmerga fighters to the embattled town of Kobane in Syria
Iraqi Kurds have agreed to send fighters to help defend the northern Syrian city of Kobane from ISIL forces, after Turkey said it would allow them to cross Turkish territory.
The parliament of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region approved the move on Wednesday, days after it sent weapons and ammunition to the town to help Syrian Kurds fighting the Islamic State or ISIS forces.
"Today in parliament we agreed to send the Peshmerga forces to Kobane as soon as possible," said Mahmoud Haji Omer, a Kurdish MP.
Turkey earlier this week said it would allow Iraqi Kurd forces cross its borders to defend Kobane. However, it has refused to intervene in northern Syria directly, and has not allowed the US to launch sorties from its territory.
Peshmerga spokesman Halgurd Hekmat in Irbil said Wednesday there is still a lot of uncertainty on details, including how many forces will be sent and when.
The vote comes two days after Turkey said it would help Iraqi Kurdish fighters cross into Syria to support their brethren defending the town.
The Kurdish government in the largely autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq is known to be friendly to the Turkish government.
Still, it was unprecedented for Turkey to promise to give Kurds passage to fight in Syria.
Ankara views the main Syrian Kurdish military force fighting IS militants as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. That group has waged a 30-year insurgency in Turkey and is designated a terrorist group by the U.S. and NATO.
Turkey is under pressure to take greater action against the ISIS militants, not only from the West but also from Kurds in Syria and inside Turkey who accuse Ankara of standing by while their people are slaughtered. Earlier this month across Turkey, widespread protests threatened to derail promising talks to end the PKK insurgency.
“We’re sending the peshmerga, not to become YPG but to fight alongside the YPG,” Hekmat said. “We will send the peshmerga to do their job for as long as they’re needed and to come back after that.”
Hekmat said Iraqi forces will also provide weapons, but he did not say what kind.
Sunni extremists of the Islamic State group, which has rampaged across Iraq and Syria, have been attacking Kobani for a month. The U.S. and its allies are assisting the Kurds by conducting airstrikes targeting ISIS infrastructure in and around the town. Earlier this week, the U.S. air dropped weapons and other assistance to the Kurds for the first time.
