Iraqi Kurdish force moves to help fight IS militants in Kobane

A group of Iraqi Kurdish fighters, known as Peshmerga, headed Tuesday to the Syrian border town of Kobane via Turkey to help local Kurdish people who have been struggling to fend off attacks by the extremist Islamic State (IS) militants in the besieged town, an official Kurdish website reported.

The Peshmerga force flew from the airport of Erbil, capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, and headed to Turkey from where they will travel by land to Kobane, Xinhua reported citing the official website of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, a major Kurdish party in which Iraqi President Fuad Masoum is a leading figure.

The Peshmerga move came after the Kurdish regional parliament agreed last Wednesday to send regional forces abroad to support Kurdish fighters combating the IS militants in Kobane, also known as Ayn al-Arab.

The parliament decision was made after it received a letter from the regional Kurdish President Masoud Barzani, in which he sought its approval to send regional forces to support Kurdish fighters in Kobane.

Earlier, Turkey said it has opened a passage to the besieged Syrian town of Kobane for Iraqi Peshmerga fighters so that they can help Syrian Kurdish fighters combat the IS militants.