UK Allocates About $80Mln to Support Iraq in Fight Against Daesh

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office will provide 60.5 million pounds (approximately $80 million) for Iraq in support fight against the Daesh terrorist group.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office on Friday announced the allocation of 60.5 million pounds (approximately $80 million) to support the Iraqi authorities in fight against the Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) terrorist group, also known as Daesh in Arabic.

"The UK has announced £60.5m of new funding to #SupportIraq in #DefeatingDaesh," the Foreign Office said on its Twitter page.

The UK has announced £60.5m of new funding to #SupportIraq in #DefeatingDaesh pic.twitter.com/BTmVTPEjD5

— Foreign Office (FCO) (@foreignoffice) July 22, 2016

​The new funding includes $66 million for humanitarian aid "to save lives and alleviate suffering," $7.3 million to counter "hazards," including improvised explosive devices, $2.3 million to support operations in Mosul and $4.3 for additional spending.

Daesh, a radical terrorist Sunni group, outlawed in Russia and many other countries, has captured vast areas in Iraq and Syria forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes. The group has claimed responsibility for dozens of deadly terrorist attacks staged in different parts of the world.

An international US-led coalition of more than 60 nations, including the United Kingdom, has been conducting airstrikes against the Daesh in Iraq and Syria since 2014.

Earlier this week, UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon reassured coalition partners that the Defense Ministry would keep to its pledge to send 50 more instructors to Iraq in August and provide $1.3 million to NATO’s training mission in Iraq. He reminded allies that London had already helped train 19,000 Iraqi troops and supplied Iraqi Kurdish forces with weapons worth over $1.8 million.