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Iraqi forces arrive in Turkey to join battle for Kobane Iraqi forces arrive in Turkey to join battle for Kobane
(about 2 hours later)
Kurdish militiamen from Iraq arrived in Turkey early Wednesday to join fellow Kurds in their battle against Islamic State jihadists in the embattled Syrian border town of Kobane, news agencies reported. Reinforcements moved into the embattled Syrian border town of Kobane on Wednesday as a small force of Syrian rebels joined the fight against the Islamic State and a separate group of Kurdish militiamen prepared to follow.
The sensitive dispatch of the Iraqi Kurdish fighters to Kobane highlights the deep political tensions in the region that are complicating the U.S.-led alliance confronting the surging Sunni militant group. The two-track movement of weapons and fighters marked a long-awaited boost for Kobane’s Syrian Kurdish defenders, who have been aided by intensified U.S. airstrikes yet remain outgunned by Islamic State units in street by street clashes.
A Turkish Airlines plane carrying Kurdish fighters landed in the Turkish city of Sanliurfa in the dead of night Wednesday amid tight security, the Reuters news agency reported. The fighters arrived in Turkey after a rousing send-off from thousands of cheering and flag-waving supporters in the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Irbil, according to the Associated Press. But it also appears to highlight the interests of Turkey in the showdown for the town.
A convoy of buses escorted by Turkish security forces left the airport shortly afterwards, the news agencies reported. A separate group of Kurdish fighters, known as pesh merga, were traveling to the Turkish border by land, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported. Turkey wants Syrian rebels — rather than Kurdish forces alone — to have control of Kobane if the Islamic State advance is thwarted. A 50-member Syrian rebel forces was allowed to cross from Turkey to reach Kobane ahead of a larger contingent of Kurdish fighters, which came by road convoy and plane from northern Iraq.
The arrival of the 150 pesh merga fighters comes after extensive negotiations for transit through Turkey, which has been extremely wary of further strengthening the region’s Kurdish bonds after battling its own Kurdish insurgency for three decades. Under pressure from Western allies, Turkey last week agreed to let the fighters from Iraq travel across Turkey to reach Kobane. NATO-member Turkey is wary about empowering further bonds among Kurds — whose ethnic homeland stretches across four nations — as part of the wider fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Turkey has faced an insurgency by Turkish Kurds seeking greater rights since the 1980s.
The role of the Iraqi Kurds was not immediately clear. At the same time, Turkey is a main backer of rebel factions that have tried to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since 2011.
The fighters are expected to bring anti-tank and anti-armor weapons into Kobane when they arrive later Wednesday, A Syrian Kurdish official told the Reuters news agency. The multi-layered political calculations by Turkey are just part of the regional tensions and rivalries complicating the U.S.-led alliance confronting the Islamic State.
Saleh Moslem, co-chair of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), told Reuters the anti-armor weapons were meant to help fend off Islamic State fighters who have used armored vehicles and tanks in their assault on the town. While various fronts are being waged against the Islamic State — including battles close to Baghdad — the struggle for Kobane has remained at the forefront.
“These armored vehicles and tanks were making problems for them,” Moslem was quoted by Reuters as saying. “So now, this will give support,” he said. Gaining control of the town could provide a significant propaganda platform for the Islamic State as the battles unfold in sight of international media and observers just over the border in Turkey.
The pesh merga contingent is unlikely to tip the scales against the well-armed Islamic State militants, but its arrival could open the way for more reinforcements. Under pressure from Western allies, Turkey last week agreed to let the fighters from Iraq travel across Turkey to reach Kobane.
A monitoring group, meanwhile, reported Wednesday that the jihadists had killed at least 30 government and pro-government fighters in an assault on a Syrian gas field Tuesday that has seen some of the worst battles between Islamic State militants and forces loyal to the Syrian regime, which has been fighting a civil war for more than three years. The first to cross Wednesday was the group from the Free Syrian Army, an umbrella group of various Western-leaning factions in Syria’s civil war. Idriss Nassan, a Kurdish official from Kobane, told the Associated Press the fighters traveled by car via Turkey’s Mursitpinar border crossing, but had no further details.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported fierce fighting around the Sha’ar gas field, which Islamic State militants first seized in July, killing some 350 people at the time. Government forces recaptured the field, just east of the embattled central city of Homs, last month, but new fighting erupted Tuesday. In the wings are 50 Iraqi Kurdish militiamen, known as pesh merga, who have assembled in Turkey.
The monitoring group said Islamic State militants also seized three wells in Tuesday's attack. Fighting continued there overnight, the group said. Some arrived by plane under tight security, the Reuters news agency reported. Others came by a road convoy that left northern Iraq on Tuesday amid cheers from backers waving Kurdish flags.
Kobane, lying right on the Syrian-Turkish border, has been under siege by Islamic State fighters for more than a month and hundreds of people have been killed, according to activists. Intense U.S.-led airstrikes there have so far failed to break the siege and have become a test of the West’s ability to combat the militant group. The Kurds are expected to bring anti-tank and anti-armor weapons into Kobane later Wednesday, a Syrian Kurdish official told the Reuters news agency.
Some 200,000 Syrian Kurds have fled the fighting to Turkey, sparking a desperate plea for help from Kurds across the region. The Sunni extremists control parts of Kobane, and have captured dozens of Kurdish villages in the area. Saleh Moslem, co-chair of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party, said the Islamic State has been able to make gains with its tanks and other armored vehicles apparently looted from armories and bases.
Turkey has military units deployed on its border with Syria but has refused to launch a solo ground offensive into Kobane, saying allies need to join any such incursion because Turkey cannot do it alone. Turkey opposes stronger ties between the Syrian Kurds and Turkey’s Kurds, who have waged a guerrilla campaign against the Turkish government since the 1980s. “So now, this will give support,” he said.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told the BBC Tuesday that sending the pesh merga was “the only way to help Kobane, since other countries don’t want to use ground troops.” The reinforcements are unlikely to tip the scales against the well-armed Islamic State militants, but their arrival could open the way for more help.
Although Kurds in Syria and Iraq have been among the front-line fighters against the Islamic State, long-standing regional worries about Kurdish autonomy and identity have become a sticking point in organizing forces. In other fighting, a monitoring group reported Wednesday that Islamic State militants had killed at least 30 Syrian government and allied fighters in an assault on a Syrian gas field. The attack on Tuesday marked some of the worst battles between Islamic State and forces loyal to Assad as the militants try to gain control of more of the region’s energy infrastructure.
Turkey and the United States classify Turkey’s Kurdish rebels as a terrorist group. The Kurdish ethnic homeland encompasses parts of Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Iran. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported fierce fighting around the Sha’ar gas field, which Islamic State militants first seized in July, killing some 350 people at the time. Government forces last month recaptured the field, just east of the embattled central city of Homs.
Although Turkey eventually agreed to allow the Iraqi pesh merga to pass through its territory to reach Kobane, it imposed restrictions, including limiting the number of fighters allowed to cross, reports said. The monitoring group said Islamic State militants also seized three wells in Tuesday's attack.
For the Islamic State, gaining control of Kobane would be a potential propaganda boost. The battle for Kobane has played out within sight of journalists and observers on the Turkish border. In Kobane, meanwhile, intensified U.S.-led airstrikes so far failed to break the siege, which has sent more than 200,000 refugees fleeing to Turkey.
At least four U.S. airstrikes have targeted Islamic State positions around Kobane since Monday, the U.S. Central Command said. Other air attacks by the United States and its allies were launched in Iraq, including one against an Islamic State unit west of Baghdad, the military said. Turkey has military units deployed on its border with Syria but has refused to launch a solo ground offensive into Kobane, saying allies need to join any such incursion because Turkey cannot do it alone. Turkey opposes stronger ties between the Syrian Kurds and Turkey’s Kurds, who have waged a guerrilla campaign against the Turkish government for three decades.
Brian Murphy reported from Washington; Daniela Deane from London. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told the BBC on Tuesday that sending the pesh merga and other forces was “the only way to help Kobane, since other countries don’t want to use ground troops.”
But Davutoglu made it clear that he wants Syrian rebels in control of Kobane if the Islamic State if driven back. He insisted an “integrated strategy” is needed — a reference to Turkish demands that the anti-Assad forces must be strengthened as part of the overall fight in Syria.
Deane reported from London.