ERBIL, Iraq
The U.S. is to establish a military base in the Kurdish regional government region to provide logistical assistance to warplanes targeting Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) positions, Kurdish officials have said.
Helgurt Hikmet, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Peshmerga - the armed forces of the Kurdish government - said on Monday that military officials and warplanes would be dispatched to the region following the completion of construction works.
He said: "The base is close to Erbil, the capital of the regional government."
"The warplanes will do surveillance, but the warplanes which will bomb ISIL targets will not take off from here."
He did not disclose any information as to when and how many planes would be sent, but said the 60 countries inside the coalition which launch airstrikes against ISIL could use the base.
ISIL over-ran vast territories in both Iraq and Syria last year, prompting the U.S. to form an international coalition to fight it.
The US-led coalition has launched numerous aerial strikes against ISIL targets in both Iraq and Syria in recent months.
