Iraq Kurd fighters leave base for Syria deployment

[Bosonic]

Source: AFP

Dozens of Kurdish peshmerga fighters left a base in northern Iraq on Tuesday headed for the battleground Syrian town of Kobane, an AFP journalist reported.

The town on the Turkish border has become a crucial front in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group, which overran large parts of Iraq in June and also holds significant territory in Syria.

The journalist saw dozens of military trucks leaving the base northeast of Kurdish regional capital Arbil from which officers said fighters bound for Kobane would depart.

Earlier, the fighters loaded machineguns and mortars into the trucks and packed bags for the trip. "Forty vehicles carrying weapons, artillery and machineguns with 80 of the peshmerga forces will head to Dohuk (province) and then cross the border today," a Kurdish officer told AFP.

Read more: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/iraq-kurd-fighters-leave-syria-deployment-122105208.html#KruFiTX

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

1. I wish them good luck.

[OKNancy]

2. some interesting photos and tweets this morning

#FREEKOBANE ‏@Kurdistan_612 40m40 minutes ago
#Peshmergas arrive in #Nusaybin who are on their way to #Kobane #YPG #UnitedKurdistan #TwitterKurds



Para Keta ‏@ParaKeta 3h3 hours ago
Shingal defense forces have seized a large number of weapons from IS including Doshka BKC and AK47.
#TwitterKurds

:large

cahit storm @cahitstorm · 38m 38 minutes ago
here is how Peshmerga are crossing North Kurdistan. It's not a travel, it's a triumph. Sons of Kurdistan UNITED

[bemildred]

3. Iraqi Kurds, Syrian rebels join fight against Islamic State in Kobane

Two hundred Free Syrian Army fighters entered Kobane Wednesday morning to bolster the Syrian border city's dwindling defenses against the self-described Islamic State, even as 160 Kurdish fighters from northern Iraq arrived in Turkey en route to join the fight. Both deployments come at a pivotal moment for Kurdish fighters already in the besieged town.

Col. Abdul Jabar Okaidi, an FSA commander, told CNN that his fighters were armed with mortars and heavy machine guns, and said more men would come if needed. Meanwhile, as one contingent of the Kurdish peshmerga fighters flew to southeastern Turkey Wednesday morning, another was driving from Iraq with weapons, including artillery, according to The Wall Street Journal. They are expected to meet later on Wednesday in Surac, a Turkish town about 10 miles from Kobane, before crossing into Syria.

Outgunned and outmanned by IS forces, Kurdish fighters in Kobane have been calling on Turkish leaders to allow reinforcements to pass through Turkey for weeks.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/terrorism-security/2014/1029/Iraqi-Kurds-Syrian-rebels-join-fight-against-Islamic-State-in-Kobane

[bemildred]

4. Iraqi Kurds to bring anti-tank weapons to Syria's Kobani: official

(Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdish fighters are expected to bring anti-tank and anti-armor weapons when they enter the Syrian town of Kobani on Wednesday to aid fellow Kurds in their fight against Islamic State militants, a Syrian Kurdish official said.

Saleh Moslem, co-chair of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), said the Iraqi "peshmerga" fighters were expected to enter Kobani - known as Ayn al-Arab in Arabic - later on Wednesday.

"They're supposed to bring ... mainly anti-armor weapons, anti-tank," he said. "Of course, more than that they have some weapons ... to defend themselves also. But mostly it's mainly artillery, or anti-armor, anti-tank weapons."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/29/us-mideast-crisis-kobani-arms-idUSKBN0II0PE20141029