MOSCOW, September 14 (RIA Novosti) -Australia will send combat aircraft and 600 military personnel to the United Arab Emirates to help fight the Islamic State (IS) militants, ABC News reports on Sunday citing the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
"This is about taking prudent and proportionate action to protect our country and to protect the wider world against an unprecedented terrorist threat," Abbott said, as quoted by the ABC News.
According to the statement, Australia will deploy up to eight Super Hornet combat aircraft, one early warning and control aircraft, one aerial refueling aircraft, 400 personnel to support air deployment and 200 officers to act as "military advisers." A decision on whether the troops will participate in combat actions is yet to be made.
" I stress that this is essentially a humanitarian operation to protect millions of people in Iraq from the murderous rage of the ISIL movement," Abbot said, adding that the Australian action is part of an international coalition that includes "the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Jordan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Australia." He warned that the campaign could last for many months.
On September 10, US President Barack Obama announced plans to defeat the IS, stating that the United States will "lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat."
The Islamic State, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), is a Sunni jihadist group that has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, the group extended its attacks to northern and western Iraq, declaring a caliphate on the territories under its control later that month.
