Kurdish Lawmakers Authorize Sending Iraq’s Peshmerga Forces to Support Kurds in Syria

Lawmakers in Iraq’s Kurdistan region authorized a move to send Kurdish peshmerga forces to help defend the Syrian town of Kobani, currently under siege by militants from the Islamic State (ISIS).

“This is a big turning point in Kurdish history,” said Youssef Mohammed, the speaker of parliament, according to the Associated Press. “Troops used to be sent to occupy Kurdish lands, but now we are sending soldiers to protect our Kurdish brothers abroad,” he said.

Kobani has become a major focal point in the war against ISIS, marking the rise and prominence of Kurds as one of the most effective forces capable of taking on the extremist group.

In response to pressure from the international community, Turkey said on Monday it would allow IraqI Kurdish fighters, peshmerga, to cross its territory to aid Kurdish fighters battling the better-armed ISIS militants in Kobani.

According to the AP, Lt. Gen. Frederick Hodges, the outgoing commander of NATO’s Land Command in Izmir, Turkey, said the Turks have agreed to open up “a land bridge of sorts” so that the peshmerga can get into Kobani.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that talks were continuing among officials on the details of the peshmergas’ transit, Reuters reports.

U.S. Admits Some of Its Weapons, Destined for Kurds, Ended Up in ISIS Hands

In a bid to significantly boost support to the Kurdish fighters in Kobani, the U.S. has ramped up airstrikes in recent weeks and air dropped 28 bundles of arms to Kurdish fighters on Monday. But a video posted to YouTube on Wednesday showed ISIS fighters taking possession of some of the hand grenades and rocket-propelled grenades – weapons that were supposed to be used against them.

Later that day the Pentagon confirmed that ISIS militants seized one of the bundles of weapons intended for Kurdish fighters. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the U.S. airdrops of arms, saying they helped ISIS.

Syria Claims It Shot Down Two of Three Fighter Jets Seized and Used by ISIS

Omran al-Zoubi, Syria’s information minister, said the country’s air force destroyed two of three fighter jets reportedly operated and test-flown by ISIS over Aleppo last week. ISIS supporters uploaded a video on Saturday reportedly showing one of the seized jets flying at a low altitude.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported last week that Iraqi air force pilots had joined ISIS and were conducting training flights in three captured fighters jets.

Zoubi said the Syrian air force was searching for the third jet but had destroyed two of them, according to Reuters.

“It does not worry us and (the planes) cannot be used,” Zoabi said, referring to their military capability. In August of this year ISIS seized warplanes from at least one air base seized from the Syrian army in Raqqa province earlier this year, in a stinging defeat for the regime.

The U.S. Central Command said it was unaware of ISIS flying jets in Syria.

Recommended Reads:

• Washington Post: As U.S. Attacks Islamic State, Syria Steps Up Assaults on Moderate Rebels

• Wall Street Journal: U.K. to Start Surveillance Flights in Syria

• AP: Syria’s Assad Exploiting U.S.-Led War Against ISIS

• International Business Times: ISIS Kobani Update: Possible ISIS Chemical Attack On Kurdish Civilians In Kobani

• Foreign Policy: This is Why You Can’t Have Nice Guns

• The Clarion-Ledger: Mississippi man travels to Syria to fight ISIS

• International Business Times: ISIS Issues Deadline Warning for American Hostage Peter Kassig Beheading