BRUSSELS
NATO is ready to provide assistance to the Iraqi government in its fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels Monday.
''We are standing ready to provide assistance to the government of Iraq and help them enhance their defense capacity,'' Stoltenberg said.
Although there has been no specific Iraqi government request yet for a NATO role, the secretary-general said: ''if there is such a request, we will stand ready.''
On Sept. 23, the U.S. and allied forces began carrying out airstrikes against the ISIL terrorists in its base of operations in Syria’s northern province of Raqqa.
U.S-led coalition warplanes carried out around 30 airstrikes in Raqqa Sunday night, the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
On Sept. 16, the ISIL launched an offensive in the Kurdish-populated town of Kobani in Syria, causing 200,000 people to flee across the Turkish border.
The first group of Iraqi Peshmerga forces entered Kobani through the border crossing with Turkey in the last week of October, the observatory added.
Masrour Barzani, intelligence chief of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, had asked the European Affairs committee in early November to provide the Peshmerga with heavy artillery, military tanks and helicopters.
While airstrikes against ISIL have been helpful, ground forces are going to win the war, Barzani had said. He also asked the EU to provide military training for his forces.
Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.
