Turkey helping Kurds to fight Islamic state

Turkey’s foreign minister said his country is helping Iraqi Kurdish forces cross into the Syrian border town of Kobani "to give support" to fellow Kurdish fighters defending the town against Islamic State militants.

The remarks by Mevlut Cavusoglu at a news conference in Ankara followed the announcement by the US military that it had, for the first time, air-dropped weapons, ammunition, and medical supplies to the Kurdish forces in Kobani along the Syrian-Turkish border.

Sunday’s airdrops followed weeks of US and coalition airstrikes in and near Kobani. There was no immediate confirmation by Kurdish officials of the airdrop or what kind of weapons it included.