MELBOURNE
Australia will start providing support to the U.S.-led international coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq by sending two unarmed aircraft, the country’s prime minister said Wednesday.
Tony Abbott told parliament that an early warning and control plane and a refueling plane would join the coalition's ongoing operations in Iraq, which started August 8.
Australia started airdropping humanitarian aid to northern Iraq in August, followed by the airlifting of arms and munitions to the forces of the Kurdish Regional Government in September.
On September 14, the government deployed 600 military personnel, fighter jets and an air-to-air refueling plane to an air base in the United Arab Emirates in preparation for possible operations.
However, it has yet to decide whether its fighter jets will join them, Abbott added Wednesday.
Main opposition leader Bill Shorten supported Abbott's remarks later Wednesday, saying that Australia backs the operations as part of a humanitarian task force.
Last Friday, the U.K. became the latest country to join airstrikes by the international coalition – which includes France, Belgium and Denmark, along with Arab allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Meanwhile, Germany has announced that it will not take part in operations, despite already providing financial and military support to Kurdish peshmerga troops in their fight against ISIL.
Bulgaria’s defense ministry also announced Wednesday that it would send some 3 million euros ($3.78 million) in light weapons and ammunition to peshmerga troops.
ISIL militants now control large swathes of land in Iraq and Syria with the ultimate aim of carving out a caliphate in the region. The U.S.-led coalition began airstrikes in northern Syria last week.
According to the Soufan Group, a New York-based security intelligence organization, some 250 Australian fighters have joined ISIL’s ranks.
www.aa.com.tr/en
