BAGHDAD, October 23 (RIA Novosti) - The Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament has approved sending Kurdish Peshmerga forces to the Syrian town of Kobani, besieged by Islamic State (IS) militants, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) said on its official website Thursday.
According to the website, the parliament's decision made during an emergency meeting on Wednesday night, allows Iraqi Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani to send Peshmerga forces and advisors to the town on the Syria-Turkey border which Kurdish locals continue to defend against the IS.
On Monday, US cargo jets and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq sent medical supplies, weapons and ammunition to Kobani as part of the Kurdistan Region's ongoing efforts to support Western Kurdistan, according to an official statement from Kurdistan Region Presidency. However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the airdrop of supplies at a news conference in Ankara on Wednesday saying the weapons sent were allegedly seized by IS militants. The Pentagon admitted one bundle of weapons drifted off course and into the hands of the IS fighters after the extremist group released a video on Tuesday showing off the hand grenades and other weapons and supplies.
The decision also follows Turkey's decision to allow Peshmerga across its border to join the People's Protection Units (YPG) in fighting against the IS on Monday.
The IS, which is also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has fought the Syrian government since 2012. It extended attacks to north and west Iraq in June and declared the creation of an Islamic caliphate.
