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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Islamic State: Turkey to let Iraq Kurds join Kobane fight | Islamic State: Turkey to let Iraq Kurds join Kobane fight |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Turkey will allow Iraqi Kurdish fighters to cross the Syrian border to fight Islamic State (IS) militants in Kobane, its foreign minister says. | Turkey will allow Iraqi Kurdish fighters to cross the Syrian border to fight Islamic State (IS) militants in Kobane, its foreign minister says. |
| Mevlut Cavusoglu added that talks on the subject were continuing, but gave no further details. | Mevlut Cavusoglu added that talks on the subject were continuing, but gave no further details. |
| Tens of thousands of people have fled months of fighting in Kobane between IS forces and Syrian Kurd defenders. | |
| Until now Turkey has refused to allow Kurdish fighters to cross into Syria, fearful of a reaction among its Kurds. | |
| The government in Ankara fought a decades-long conflict with the PKK, which it brands as a terrorist organisation. The PKK campaigns for greater autonomy in Turkey and has links with the Syrian Kurds defending Kobane. | |
| But Turkey has come under pressure from its own Kurdish population, and more widely, to allow fighters in to help push IS out of Kobane, a town that has become highly symbolic of the wider battle against IS. | |
| "Turkey has no wish see Kobane fall," Mr Cavusoglu added. | |
| The Turkish announcement is a surprise and a significant shift, the BBC's Mark Lowen in Istanbul says. | |
| Only hours before Mr Cavusoglu's comments, the United States military said it had carried out air drops of weapons, ammunition and medical supplies to the Syrian Kurdish fighters around Kobane. | |
| The drops of supplies provided by Kurdish authorities in Iraq were "intended to enable continued resistance against Isil's attempts to overtake Kobane," Centcom said in a statement. IS is also referred to as Isil and Isis. | The drops of supplies provided by Kurdish authorities in Iraq were "intended to enable continued resistance against Isil's attempts to overtake Kobane," Centcom said in a statement. IS is also referred to as Isil and Isis. |
| Officials said three planes - C130 Hercules - were involved and 27 bundles were dropped. The planes returned safely. | Officials said three planes - C130 Hercules - were involved and 27 bundles were dropped. The planes returned safely. |
| Centcom says US forces have conducted more than 135 air strikes against IS in Kobane since early October. | |
| "Combined with continued resistance to Isil on the ground, indications are that these strikes have slowed Isil advances into the city, killed hundreds of their fighters and destroyed or damaged scores of pieces of Isil combat equipment and fighting positions," the Centcom statement said. | "Combined with continued resistance to Isil on the ground, indications are that these strikes have slowed Isil advances into the city, killed hundreds of their fighters and destroyed or damaged scores of pieces of Isil combat equipment and fighting positions," the Centcom statement said. |
| But "Kobane could still fall," it added. | But "Kobane could still fall," it added. |
| On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said he would not allow Kurdish fighters to receive any transfers of American arms. | |
| A US administration official said President Barack Obama had called Mr Erdogan on Saturday to inform him that the airdrops would be taking place. The official did not say how Mr Erdogan reacted. | |
| Who are Islamic State (IS)? | |
| Weeks of fighting | |
| The rapid advance of IS in both Syria and Iraq, where it controls large chunks of territory, has rattled the West prompting the US-led air strikes. | |
| Kobane is a strategic objective for IS, and fierce fighting has raged in the town for weeks, forcing the evacuation of most of its civilian inhabitants. | |
| The IS advance in Syria takes place against the backdrop of the civil war. US-led air strikes are being conducted there without the permission of President Bashar al-Assad, who the West wants to relinquish power. | |
| In Iraq, the air campaign is taking place with the co-operation of the government. The advance of IS there earlier this year has taken it to close to the capital, Baghdad. | |
| The key northern Baiji oil refinery is under constant IS threat, and on Sunday the Iraqi military said it was carrying out an offensive to retake the nearby city of the same name. | |
| Neighbouring Iran is seen as a key ally of the Baghdad government in the fight against IS and Iraqi PM Haidar al-Abadi is scheduled to visit Tehran on Monday for talks on the conflict. However, Iran is not part of the US-led coalition. | |
| Baghdad continues to be blighted by sectarian tensions worsened by IS advance. | |
| Another suicide attack on a Shia mosque in the capital has killed at least 16 people, officials say. The blast targeted the al-Khairat mosque in a commercial district. An attack on another Shia mosque on Sunday killed 19. | |
| Baghdad has seen an increase in bomb attacks in recent weeks - many claimed by IS. |