{Iraqi Kurdish forces are travelling to Turkey, from where they plan to cross into Syria to battle Islamic State (IS) militants besieging the town of Kobane.}<\/p>\n
Officials said a plane carrying 150 Peshmerga had left Irbil. Their heavy weapons will be transported by land.<\/p>\n
Their deployment has reportedly been held up by a dispute between Turkey and the Syrian Kurdish fighters in Kobane.<\/p>\n
Earlier, the Turkish prime minister rejected claims that he was not doing enough to end the jihadists’ assault.<\/p>\n
“Saving Kobane, retaking Kobane and some area around Kobane from [IS], there’s a need for a military operation,” Ahmet Davutoglu told the BBC.<\/p>\n
But he made clear that Turkey would only take part once the US-led coalition against IS had an “integrated strategy” that included action against the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.<\/p>\n
Turkey PM Ahmet Davutoglu: ‘We will help coalition forces’
\nHe also noted that Western states were not prepared to send troops.<\/p>\n
“The only way to help Kobane, since other countries don’t want to use ground troops, is sending some peace-oriented or moderate troops to Kobane. What are they? Peshmerga… and Free Syrian Army,” he added, referring to the Western-backed rebel umbrella group.<\/p>\n
The battle for Kobane, a predominantly Kurdish town on Syria’s border with Turkey, has emerged as a major test of whether the coalition’s air campaign can push back IS.<\/p>\n
Weeks of air strikes in and around Kobane have allowed Kurdish fighters to hold off the jihadists’ offensive, but clashes continued on Tuesday and a Kurdish commander said IS still controlled 40% of the town.<\/p>\n
The US Central Command said it had conducted four strikes there on Tuesday, destroying a small IS unit and four fighting positions.<\/p>\n
{{BBC}}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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