Islamic State crisis: Reinforcements boost Kobane defence
A huge cloud of smoke is seen following an American airstrike in the Syrian town of Kobane.
BBC online :
Up to 200 Syrian rebels have arrived in Kobane to help Kurdish fighters defending the northern border town against Islamic State (IS) militants.
All were fighting under the flag of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army, an FSA commander in Kobane told the BBC.
The news came as about 150 Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters arrived in Turkey on their way to the town.
One contingent flew from Iraq to south-east Turkey while others with heavy weapons are driving overland.
After coming under considerable international pressure to do more to prevent Kobane falling into IS hands, the Turkish government agreed to the deployments last week.
It has refused to allow Turkish Kurds from the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which it considers a terrorist group, to cross the border to fight since the assault on Kobane began six weeks ago.
The PKK has fought a decades-long insurgency in Turkey, but agreed to a ceasefire last year.
The government in Ankara fears the Turkish Kurds will join the PKK’s Syrian offshoot, the Democratic Unity Party (PYD), and use its territory to launch attacks on Turkey.
The battle for Kobane has emerged as a major test of whether the US-led coalition’s air campaign can push back IS.
Weeks of air strikes in and around Kobane have allowed fighters from the PYD’s armed wing, the Popular Protection Units (YPG), to prevent it from falling. But clashes continued on Tuesday and a local Kurdish commander said IS still controlled 40% of the town.
Thousands of cheering, flag-waving supporters gathered to see off the first batch of Peshmerga forces as they left Irbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, by plane on Tuesday afternoon.
The group of 90-100 fighters landed in the early hours of Wednesday at Sanliurfa airport in south-eastern Turkey.
They were then reported to have left the airport in buses escorted by Turkish security forces.
A few hours later, just after dawn, a convoy of 80 lorries carrying weapons and more fighters crossed by land into south-eastern Turkey through the Habur border crossing.
Turkish police fired into the air to disperse a large crowd of Kurds who had come to welcome them. Some in the crowd threw stones at the police.
The two groups of fighters are expected to meet later on Wednesday in Suruc, some 16km (10 miles) from Kobane, before crossing the border into Syria.
Up to 200 Syrian rebels have arrived in Kobane to help Kurdish fighters defending the northern border town against Islamic State (IS) militants.
All were fighting under the flag of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army, an FSA commander in Kobane told the BBC.
The news came as about 150 Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters arrived in Turkey on their way to the town.
One contingent flew from Iraq to south-east Turkey while others with heavy weapons are driving overland.
After coming under considerable international pressure to do more to prevent Kobane falling into IS hands, the Turkish government agreed to the deployments last week.
It has refused to allow Turkish Kurds from the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which it considers a terrorist group, to cross the border to fight since the assault on Kobane began six weeks ago.
The PKK has fought a decades-long insurgency in Turkey, but agreed to a ceasefire last year.
The government in Ankara fears the Turkish Kurds will join the PKK’s Syrian offshoot, the Democratic Unity Party (PYD), and use its territory to launch attacks on Turkey.
The battle for Kobane has emerged as a major test of whether the US-led coalition’s air campaign can push back IS.
Weeks of air strikes in and around Kobane have allowed fighters from the PYD’s armed wing, the Popular Protection Units (YPG), to prevent it from falling. But clashes continued on Tuesday and a local Kurdish commander said IS still controlled 40% of the town.
Thousands of cheering, flag-waving supporters gathered to see off the first batch of Peshmerga forces as they left Irbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, by plane on Tuesday afternoon.
The group of 90-100 fighters landed in the early hours of Wednesday at Sanliurfa airport in south-eastern Turkey.
They were then reported to have left the airport in buses escorted by Turkish security forces.
A few hours later, just after dawn, a convoy of 80 lorries carrying weapons and more fighters crossed by land into south-eastern Turkey through the Habur border crossing.
Turkish police fired into the air to disperse a large crowd of Kurds who had come to welcome them. Some in the crowd threw stones at the police.
The two groups of fighters are expected to meet later on Wednesday in Suruc, some 16km (10 miles) from Kobane, before crossing the border into Syria.