A small delegation of Iraqi Kurdish fighters crossed the Turkish border into Syria's Kobane on Thursday to prepare the way for dozens more to reinforce the town's defenders, a monitor said.
"Ten peshmerga (fighters) entered Kobane to coordinate the arrival of their comrades, who are still waiting with their weapons in Turkey," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The pro-Kurdish Turkish Firat news agency also reported that a delegation of 10 peshmerga had entered Kobane for talks with the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia defending the town.
Kurds in Turkey greet peshmerga convoys at Viransehir, in Sanliurfa on October 29, 2014© AFP Bulent Kilic
About 150 peshmerga are expected to join Syrian Kurds and Arab rebels fighting the Islamic State group jihadists in Kobane, after Turkey agreed to their passage last week.
Two groups of the peshmerga linked up on the Turkish border on Thursday, as a convoy carrying heavy weapons joined with a second group of fighters who had arrived by air the day before.
The Observatory reported that IS was pounding northern areas of Kobane along the border with mortars and heavy artillery.
IS fighters had also launched an assault of a northern neighbourhood overnight but were pushed back by forces from the YPG, said the Britain-based group, which relies on a broad network of activists for its reporting.
Source: AFP