ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish sources said Thursday that a new fresh batch of Peshmerga forces are set to leave Erbil for Kobane in Syria to replace their counterparts who have been there since December, as the Islamic State (ISIS) has gradually lost its grip on the city.
Kurdish military sources said the militants have now been pushed back from much of the desolate city. The commander of Peshmerga forces in Kobane told Rudaw this week that 85 percent of the city is now in the hands of Kurdish forces, which include the Peshmerga and the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
This will be the third rotation of Peshmerga in Kobane: more than 150 soldiers arrived there from Erbil in late November and they were replaced by fresh fighters the month after.
The first batch was dispatched with semi-heavy weapons and ammunition to fight alongside the YPG Syrian Kurdish defenders of the city, which borders Turkey and would have given ISIS a strategic advantage if captured.
Fighters of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) have been locked in daily clashes with the Islamic State extremists who still rule over large swathes of land in both Syria and central Iraq.
Authorities in Erbil have shown willingness to send more ground troops to Kobane if needed, but defenders of the city have requested ammunition and military equipment so far, as the siege enters its fourth month.
US jets have carried out about 540 strikes in and around Kobane, degrading the artillery capability of the militants who extensively shelled the city before entering the eastern districts of the town in November.
Kurdish army sources revealed last week that around 1,000 militants of the Islamic State have been killed in the four-month long bloody siege.
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