Kurdish Forces Head to Syria to Fight Islamic State

A Kurdish convoy made its way to the Syria border town of Kobani this week to combat the Islamic State, according to witnesses in Turkey.

Members of the Peshmerga, or armed Kurdish fighters, traveled from Iraq, through Turkey and to the city of Kobani this week to aid local Kurdish fighters in their fight against the Islamic State. Members of the terrorist group have been battling for control over the city over the past month, and although the U.S. has been taking part in airstrikes, locals have not been able to regain power of the town that serves as an important location for the transportation of weapons and supplies.

Issa Ahamd, an 18-year-old Syrian Kurd living in Turkey, recalled seeing the Peshmerga pass through his town this week. "All the Kurds are together. We want them to go and fight in Kobani and liberate it," he said.

Last week, it was still undetermined if the Peshmerga would be traveling to Kobani to help Kurdish forces. "Until now [the Peshmerga] have not gone," Sinam Mohammed, a representative for the Syrian Kurdish administration, told Reuters last week. "They were supposed to go yesterday. They (KRG) says we are ready to send them but I don't know what happened. I think the problem is Turkey."

Locals in Turkey and Syria are reportedly waiting to see what type of weapons the passing Peshmerga forces have, as that will likely determine their success in recapturing Kobani.

"We are waiting for the peshmerga. We want to see what weapons they have," 30-year-old Nidal Attur of Suruc,Turkey, told the Associated Press.