WASHINGTON/ERBIL - The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) gave the go-ahead for US-supplied weapons intended for its forces to be diverted to Syrian Kurds fighting to hold Kobane, a senior KRG source told Rudaw. “It was a question of national duty” to help arm the besieged Kurdish militia, who are currently defending the border town against Islamic State attack. The sources was speaking after the US military said on Sunday that the US air force airdropped arms and medical supplies to Kurdish fighters in the city of Kobane. “US military forces conducted multiple airdrops tonight in the vicinity of Kobani, Syria to resupply Kurdish forces on the ground defending the city,” US Central Command said in a statement. According to the statement, the supplies were provided by the Kurdish authorities in Iraq. “The aircraft delivered weapons, ammunition and medical supplies that were provided by Kurdish authorities in Iraq and intended to enable continued resistance against ISIL's attempts to overtake Kobani,” Military analysts said the weapons were likely to have been old Soviet era stock procured by the US and originally intended to be supplied to the KRG Peshmerga. This statement also added that the US Air Force has conducted more than 135 airstrikes against Islamist militants in Kobane. The Kurdish city of Kobane was under siege from the Islamic State (IS) for more than a month until the fighters of the Peoples Protection Units (YPG) with support from the US air force pushed back the militants and regained control of the city last week.
