Iraqi peshmerga troops join Kobani fight

On Nov 1, 2014

SURUC, Turkey — Iraqi peshmerga fighters began entering the Syrian border town of Kobani on Friday night. They were expected to join the battle against Islamist extremists besieging the town, activists said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Kobani-based activist Mustafa Bali said 10 vehicles carrying Iraqi peshmerga fighters and their weapons entered the town. They said the Iraqi Kurdish force entered from an area west of the town near the strategic Tel Shair hill.

The Observatory and Bali said it was not clear how many peshmerga fighters of the force of 150 had entered Kobani. It was not clear why the force did not enter from the main border crossing point between Kobani and Turkey, although it is likely because the area is subjected to attacks by Islamic State fighters.

Earlier Friday, journalists in the border town of Suruc saw the peshmerga force leaving. As soon as the news spread in Suruc, fireworks were let off.

A Kurdish official blamed Turkey for the days-long delay of the ßpeshmerga force’s deployment.

The official with Syria’s powerful Kurdish Democratic Union Party, or PYD, claimed Turkish leaders had been hoping that militants from the Islamic State group would capture the town before the Iraqi fighters entered.

“There have been so many delays, and the peshmerga are not to blame. The Turks are behind the delays,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

In Paris, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the international community is focusing too much on the battle over Kobani and called for strikes in other parts of Syria.

Speaking at a news conference with French President Francois Hollande, Erdogan said, “We’re only talking about Kobani, a city on the Turkish border where there is almost no one left besides 2,000 fighters.”

“It’s difficult to understand this approach: why are coalition forces continually bombarding Kobani? Why don’t the coalition forces want to act in other zones?” Erdogan said.

The expected peshmerga deployment, accompanied by 50 members of the Free Syrian Army, was condemned by Syria’s government as an act of Turkish aggression and a “blatant violation of Syrian sovereignty.”

The official’s comments came as the U.S. Central Command said American warplanes conducted four airstrikes near Kobani damaging four Islamic State fighting positions and one building occupied by the group.

Muslim and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Kurdish fighters in Kobani fought heavy battles with the Islamic State group that launched an offensive in the town six weeks ago.

“We have 10 martyrs in the past 24 hours,” Muslim said, adding that corpses of Muslim militants are on their ground and they can’t pick them up.

The Observatory said 22 Kurdish fighters were killed and 19 jihadis were killed on Thursday alone. The group added that 21 fighters with the Islamic State’s police force known as Hisba, were killed in airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition on Thursday.

Islamic State militants launched the attack on Kobani in mid-September, capturing dozens of Kurdish villages in addition to parts of the border town. More than 200,000 people have fled to Turkey and more than 800 people have died, activists say.

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