Australia's government announced that Australian troops will be deployed in Iraq, as Britain's Prime Minister said he will send two more Tornado planes to participate in air strikes against the Islamic State group.
Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced Friday that Royal Australian Air Force will actively participate in the air strikes against the Islamic State group (I.S.). In an unexpected move, the PM also said that Australian troops will be deployed in Iraq to assist in the fight.
During a nationally televised press conference, Abbott said that the troops would be engaged in an "advise and assist" capacity to support the Iraqi army.
"Today, cabinet has authorized Australian air strikes in Iraq at the request of the Iraqi Government and in support of the Iraqi government," said Abbott.
"Also, subject to final legal documentation, cabinet has authorized the deployment of Australian special forces into Iraq to advise and assist Iraqi forces." added the PM.
Last month, Abbott sent aircraft and 600 personnel to the United Arab Emirates in preparation for joining the coalition. On Wednesday he said that Australian aircraft would join the air U.S.-led coalition against I.S in an initial support role, but did not mention the involvement of Australian ground troops.
"My understanding is that there are U.K. and Canadian special forces already inside Iraq, so we'll be operating on a much smaller scale but in an entirely comparable way to the United States special forces." said Abbot.
So far Australian aircraft have been limited to humanitarian aid and delivering arms to Iraqi government-backed forces.
Britain has also announced it is stepping up it involvement in Iraq, by sending more aircraft.
Cameron said on Thursday that he would send two more Tornado GR4 planes to participate in the air strikes against I.S militants in Iraq, in addition to the six that are already active in the strikes.
“Less than a week into combat operations in Iraq, I wanted to come here to thank our troops for the vital work they’re doing to defeat these barbaric Isil terrorists who threaten security not just in Iraq, Syria and the region, but on the streets of Britain too.” said the PM as he visited Britain's Royal Air Force base in Cyprus. Britain's air strikes against I.S launched from Cyprus. According to The Guardian, Cameron's visit is a sign that he does not expect the operations in Iraq to end soon.
The United States has been bombing Islamic State and other groups in Syria for almost two weeks with the help of Arab allies, and hitting targets in neighboring Iraq since August.
A number of European countries have joined the campaign in Iraq but not in Syria.
(Taken from TeleSur)
