MESOP : THANKS TO THE PESHMERGA ! Peshmerga forces to leave liberated Kobane / After Liberating Kobane with help of US-led airstrikes
April 25, 2015 – ARA News – Kobane, Syria – The Kurdish Peshmerga forces are preparing to leave the city of Kobane in northern Syria, to return to Erbil (Hewler), the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, after completing their military mission of backing Syrian Kurds against extremists of the Islamic State (IS/ISIS) and liberating the city.
Brigadier Talht Saleh Zerari, Commander of the Peshmerga forces in Kobane, told ARA News that there has been no official decision for the Peshmerga to leave yet, “but most likely our forces will depart from Kobane and return to the Kurdistan Region in the next couple of days”. Zerari didn’t explain the reason behind the Peshmerga’s departure from Kobane. The Commander said that their forces, alongside other factions, have completed the mission of liberating Kobane. Omar Alloush, member of the Democratic Movement Society (TEV-DEM) and military coordinator of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) confirmed that the Peshmerga forces made great efforts in backing the YPG in Kobane, and but expected to leave the city since they’ve completed their mission there.
“The Peshmerga are departing Kobane because they’ve completed their mission, especially since the Islamic State group (IS/ISIS) has been expelled from the city by the joint forces (Peshmerga, YPG and FSA),” he told ARA News, adding that the leadership of the Peshmerga in Kobane promised the YPG fighters will come back at any time if needed. Noteworthy, the first batch of the Peshmerga forces entered the city of Kobane at end of August 2014, to support the YPG fighters in expelling the IS radical group from the city after the Kurdistan Region’s parliament agreed upon the decision of sending the troops to the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobane. Hundreds of Peshmerga fighters have participated in military operations against IS militants in Kobane during the past months. Reporting by: Jiwan Saman – Source: ARA News