ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdish Peshmerga have delayed Sunday’s deployment of 150 soldiers to the Syrian border town of Kobane for one day, according to an officer in the unit.
The officer told Rudaw the delay related to “technical issues” related to the passage of troops through Turkey.
He added that the troops were ready to go, and that they have received “the best new American weapons, military supplies, and clothing.”
The Kurdistan Regional Government has said the soldiers will operate heavy weapons to provide cover for Syrian Kurdish fighters, who have held off lslamic State (ISIS) forces with little more than Kalashnikovs since mid-September.
They also confirmed that promises were made to Turkey and the United States that Peshmerga would not hand over heavy weapons to local fighters, nor would they remain in Syria beyond a fixed period of time.
The force will be led by Sihad Barzani, the commander of the region’s artillery brigade and brother of the Kurdistan Regional Governnment’s (KRG) President Massoud Barzani, according to a KRG official, although he added that “a few internal issues are still being resolved” before the Peshmerga leave.
Peshmerga sources said that the names of the soldiers, as well as a detailed list of their weapons, have been provided to Turkey and the United States. They will be moving through Turkey to reach Kobane, which abuts the Turkish border.
They will be the first foreign troops to provide aid to the town’s Syrian Kurdish defenders, who have been holding off assaults by Islamic State fighters for more than a month with the help of US and allied air strikes.
