US Drops Weapons, Supplies to Kurdish Forces at Kobani, Defying Turkey
In a move that marked a break with a key NATO ally, the U.S. dropped weapons, ammunition and medical supplies Sunday to Kurdish forces fighting to defend the Syrian city of Kobani from the Islamic State.
The word came only hours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned President Barack Obama not to assist the Kobani defenders, who he believes are linked to a group both Turkey and the United States have classified as a terrorist organization.
The airdrops were the first of their kind since Obama declared the anti-Islamic State campaign in early August and came after U.S. planes last week conducted more than 100 airstrikes on Islamic State positions in and around Kobani. Those strikes, which were coordinated with Kurdish militias on the ground, allowed the Kurdish forces to reclaim miles of territory that had fallen to the Islamic State, which is also known as ISIL or ISIS.
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