By Kevin Placek
Tony Abbott announces that Australia will provide humanitarian aid and equipment.
Citing the rapidly escalating threat posed by the violent Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) movement across northern and western Iraq, Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced on August 31 that Australia will join an international coalition, led by the United States, to assist “anti-ISIL forces” in Iraq. At Washington’s request, Australia will join the United Kingdom, Canada, France and Italy in providing an airlift of military equipment to the Kurds.
Australia will also participate in a humanitarian airdrop in Amreli in northern Iraq, which has faced a two-month long siege by Islamic State militants although recent reports suggest that Iraqi security forces have now regained control over the city. This follows on from an earlier humanitarian airdrop by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) to Yazidi civilians who were trapped by ISIL forces on Mount Sinjar.
Abbott also announced that an Australian C-17 aircraft will be airlifting equipment and supplies to Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The Kurdish Peshmerga troops are seen as a vital link in pushing back against ISIL’s ambitious expansion into northern Iraq, playing a major role in the retaking of Mosul Dam last month. They will be provided with light infantry weapons, mortars, ammunition, and rocket propelled grenades.
Read the full story at The Diplomat