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U.S. drops weapons, aid to Kurds fighting Islamic State in Syria U.S. drops weapons, aid to Kurds fighting Islamic State in Syria
(about 9 hours later)
U.S. aircraft dropped weapons and medical supplies late Sunday to besieged forces fighting the Islamic State in the Syrian border town of Kobane, the first airdrops into Syria since the civil war there began more than three years ago. SANLIURFA, Turkey — Turkey will allow passage for Iraqi Kurdish fighters seeking to reinforce Syrian Kurds battling the Islamic State, the Turkish foreign minister said on Monday, signaling another potential boost for the defenders of embattled Kobane.
Senior administration officials said the emergency decision to drop the supplies, including small arms and ammunition, followed urgent appeals from Syrian Kurds defending the town, which lies along the Turkish border, after three weeks of fighting against surging militant fighters. Turkey’s announcement followed overnight U.S. airdrops of weapons and ammunition to the Syrian border town, which has faced steady Islamic State attacks for weeks.
The decision by Turkey marks a breakthrough in its political calculations over its role in aiding the U.S.-led battles against the Islamic State, a radical al-Qaeda offshoot also known as ISIS or ISIL. A major consideration for Turkey is the interconnection between various factions of Kurds, whose ethnic homeland spreads across Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran.
Turkey had opposed delivering weapons to Kobane’s Syrian Kurds because of their affiliations with a Kurdish group in Turkey that began an insurgency three decades ago.
But the U.S.-dropped supplies and possible fresh fighters are expected to give a big boost to the battle against the Islamic State advance on Kobane, which is within sight of the Turkish border and has been the target of escalating American-led airstrikes.
Last week, Kurds in Kobane said they had turned the tide of the battle and forced the Islamic State to retreat from several areas of the town. But Syrian Kurds also said they were running low on weapons and ammunition.
The U.S. airdrops overnight Sunday followed a telephone call between President Obama and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was informed about the mission.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu later said that Turkey would also allow Iraqi Kurdish fighters, known as pesh merga, to cross into Syria to fight alongside the Syrian Kurds.
“We never wanted Kobane to fall,” Cavusoglu told a news conference in the Turkish capital, Ankara.
The deal followed days of talks in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Dahuk between Syrian and Iraqi Kurdish factions as well as U.S. officials.
The Kobane fighters are affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a group based in southeastern Turkey that has fought Turkish forces since the mid-1980s, seeking greater autonomy. Its leaders have threatened to tear up a recent peace accord with Turkey if Kobane fell. Both Turkey and the United States have declared the PKK a terrorist organization.
The Kobane Kurds also have long been at odds with Iraq’s Kurds over who should control Kurdish areas in northern Syria. But over the past two years, a PKK-affiliated faction has gained ascendancy in northern Syria.
The U.S. airdrops were the first into Syria since the civil war there began more than three years ago.
The airdrops — totaling what officials said were 27 “bundles” of supplies delivered by three C-130 cargo planes — followed a week of intensive U.S. and coalition airstrikes against militant forces in and around Kobane.The airdrops — totaling what officials said were 27 “bundles” of supplies delivered by three C-130 cargo planes — followed a week of intensive U.S. and coalition airstrikes against militant forces in and around Kobane.
Officials did not specify where the planes took off but said the operation lasted about four hours, beginning at 4 p.m. Washington time. The C-130s, which fly low and slowly, were not accompanied by fighter jets, they said, because the Islamic State is not thought to have antiaircraft weapons.Officials did not specify where the planes took off but said the operation lasted about four hours, beginning at 4 p.m. Washington time. The C-130s, which fly low and slowly, were not accompanied by fighter jets, they said, because the Islamic State is not thought to have antiaircraft weapons.
The decision to provide supplies came during a weekend in which some of the fiercest fighting occurred in and around Kobane, with militants firing dozens of mortar rounds, some of which were said to have landed in Turkish territory.The decision to provide supplies came during a weekend in which some of the fiercest fighting occurred in and around Kobane, with militants firing dozens of mortar rounds, some of which were said to have landed in Turkish territory.
The officials, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity under rules imposed by the administration, said that Kobane may still fall to the Islamic State. They said that the coalition focus on the town was based on targets of opportunity provided by massing Islamic State forces and the need to try to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe. The Islamic State has executed thousands of civilians in areas it has taken in Syria and Iraq. In deciding to focus extensive firepower on Kobane, the administration is seeking to avoid a militant propaganda victory in a place that has garnered intense attention from reporters based just over the Turkish border.
But in deciding to focus extensive firepower on Kobane, the administration also is seeking to avoid a militant propaganda victory in a place that has garnered intense attention from reporters based just over the Turkish border. Over the past week, the administration has tried unsuccessfully to persuade Turkey to open its border to the resupply.
Over the past week, the administration has tried unsuccessfully to persuade Turkey to open its border to the resupply. President Obama informed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the planned U.S. airdrop by phone Saturday, senior administration officials said. Secretary of State John F. Kerry said he understood Turkey’s delicate situation with the PKK, but he stressed that it would be “irresponsible” not to send aid to the Kurdish fighters in Kobane.
“We have made clear to the Turkish government for some days now the urgency of facilitating resupply to those forces,” said one senior official, who added that Obama had conveyed to Erdogan “the importance we put on it.” “It would be irresponsible of us, as well morally very difficult, to turn your back on a community fighting ISIL as hard as it is at this particular moment,” he said in Jakarta, Indonesia.
While Turkey has agreed to limited participation in the U.S.-led international coalition against the Islamic State, it has resisted aiding the Syrian Kurds, who are allied with the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). That group has been engaged in episodic conflict with Turkey and is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and the United States.
Turkey also has tried to leverage its support for the coalition effort to secure a U.S. pledge to expand its military campaign against the Islamic State to a fight against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.Turkey also has tried to leverage its support for the coalition effort to secure a U.S. pledge to expand its military campaign against the Islamic State to a fight against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The ethnic Kurdish homeland spans Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq. In Iraq, the government of the semi-autonomous Kurdish regional government has shared Turkish animosity toward the PKK and its Syrian allies. The U.S. Central Command said that “no U.S.-made weapons” were included in the Syria resupply. Iraq’s Kurdish pesh merga military force uses mostly Soviet-era Russian weapons, which the United States arranged last summer to be supplied by former Soviet-bloc countries now in NATO.
But in a symbolic display of Kurdish solidarity, and as a result of intense U.S. diplomacy in recent days, the weapons and ammunition dropped were supplied by Kurdish authorities in Iraq. Much of the material, however, had been at least indirectly provided to the Iraqi Kurds by the United States and coalition allies. DeYoung reported from Washington. Missy Ryan and Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report.
The U.S. Central Command said that “no U.S.-made weapons” were included in the Syria resupply. Iraq’s Kurdish military force, called the pesh merga, uses mostly Soviet-era Russian weapons, which the United States arranged last summer to be supplied by former Soviet-bloc countries now in NATO.
Missy Ryan contributed to this report.