"The Peshmerga have been
ready for a few days, then had logistical problems,
but they no longer
do," Brig. Gen. Halgurd Hikmat said of the Iraqi Kurdish forces. "They
will possibly be leaving today or tomorrow."
He added that "we now have an agreement with Turkey on this."
Another source -- an
official with the Ministry of Peshmerga, effectively the defense
ministry for the semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government in
northern Iraq -- said 161 Peshmerga fighters were making the trip.
The troops have weapons
"that will be of good help to our brothers in Kobani," said the
official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Peshmerga militia generally defends the Kurdish region in northern Iraq and has battled ISIS in that nation.
Turkish officials were
not immediately available to comment. But Turkey has previously said it
will allow the Peshmerga to pass through its territory into Syria to
join the fight for Kobani, which lies on the Syrian-Turkish border.
Kobani, known in Arabic as Ayan al-Arab, is a largely Kurdish town defended by a Kurdish-Syrian militia.
With ISIS controlling the Syrian land surrounding Kobani, the Peshmerga's easiest path into Kobani is through Turkey.
Hikmat would not confirm
how the Kurdish fighters from Iraq would join the Kurdish defenders in
Kobani but said they would bring weapons and would participate in the
fighting.
The weapons would be Saddam Hussein-era gear collected in Iraq, not new coalition armaments, Hikmat added.
Iraqi forces, Peshmerga claim gains against ISIS
ISIS, or the Islamic
State in Iraq and Syria, captured portions of Syria and Iraq this year
in its bid to establish what it says is an independent Islamic nation.
ISIS began attacking Kobani in September.
The Ministry of
Peshmerga officials also said Tuesday that the Peshmerga would be in
Kobani on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.
Source:CNN
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