Iraqi peshmerga fighters were in southeastern Turkey on Wednesday en route to the Syrian town of Kobani to try to help fellow Kurds break a siege by ISIS that has defied U.S.-led airstrikes. Located six miles from the border with Turkey, Kobani has been under assault from extremist militants for more than a month and its fate has become a key test of the U.S.-led coalition's ability to combat the Sunni insurgents.
Weeks of airstrikes on ISIS positions around Kobani have failed to break the siege. Syrian Kurds and their international allies hope the arrival of the peshmerga, along with heavier weapons, can turn the tide. Adham Basho, a member of the Syrian Kurdish National Council from Kobani, confirmed that a group of between 90 and 100 fighters had stopped in Sanliurfa in southeastern Turkey overnight. A separate group of peshmerga was traveling to the Turkish border region by land with heavier weapons.
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