Iraqi Peshmerga Fighters Headed to Fight Islamic State Militants in Syria

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2014-10-29

Iraqi Kurdish fighters are one their way to the northern Syrian town of Kobani to help Kurds there battle the Islamic State militants who have been trying for weeks to take control of the area.

A group of the peshmerga forces flew into Turkey early Wednesday, and then proceeded toward the border under escort by Turkish security forces.

A convoy carrying another group with heavy weapons also crossed into Turkey by land Wednesday on its way to Syria.

Turkey's government has said it will not send it own troops to join the fight in Kobani, but agreed last week to allow 150 fighters from Iraq's Kurdistan region to pass through its territory.

Turkey has balked at sending its own troops because it says the Syrian Kurds fighting in Kobani are linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, which has waged a three-decade fight with Turkey for Kurdish cultural and political rights.

The fighting in Kobani continued Tuesday, with the U.S. saying it launched four more aerial attacks on Islamic State positions. The U.S.-led coalition also launched nine other strikes against the Sunni militants in Iraq.

Source: Voice of America

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