Iraqi Kurdish Forces Head to Turkey to Join Kobane Battle

An explosion after an apparent US-led coalition airstrike on Kobane, Syria, as seen from the Turkish side of the border, near Suruc district, Sanliurfa, Turkey, 27 October 2014. Photo by EPA/BGNES.

Iraqi Kurdish forces are traveling to Turkey on their way to cross into Syria to battle Islamic State militants besieging the town of Kobane, the BBC reports.

A plane carrying 150 Peshmerga was said to have left Irbil.

Last week, Turkey agreed to the deployment after refusing to allow Turkish Kurds to cross the border to fight.

"Saving Kobane, retaking Kobane and some area around Kobane from [IS], there's a need for a military operation," Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu told the BBC.

However, he stressed that Turkey would only take part once the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) had an "integrated strategy" that included action against the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The Kurdistan Parliament authorized sending 150 fighters to help defend the predominantly Kurdish Syrian town last week.

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