British missiles to help Kurds battle fanatics
BRITAIN is set to provide anti-tank weapons, night vision goggles, radar and body armour to Kurdish forces battling Islamic State jihadists.
The region’s fighters say they will ask the UK for specific equipment after Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said a request for weapons would be ‘considered favourably’.
An emergency meeting of EU ministers yesterday condemned the ‘atrocities and abuses’ against religious minorities – such as the Yazidis – and backed the arming of the Kurdish forces.
RAF Chinooks are already ferrying weapons supplied by other countries, including France, to Kurds in the city of Irbil, where British and US Special Forces are helping plan an offensive against the IS militants.
They are also providing training in the
‘Situation remains top priority’
use of the newly supplied weapons, including ‘Milan’ anti-tank missiles and Belgian-made machine guns.
Kurdish fighters would like the UK to provide Javelin anti-tank missiles, mortars, heavily calibre machine guns and sniper rifles as well as body armour, night vision goggles and helmets. They may also be given a portable radar called MSTAR used to locate incoming fire and enemy positions.
Britain had previously said it would only ferry weapons to the Kurds, not supply them. The change of stance could risk indirectly drawing the UK back into Iraq’s conflict.
The weapons supply and training are in addition to the RAF Tornados, Hercules transport planes, other support vehicles and troops already in the region.
Masrour Barzani, chancellor of the Kurdish region’s security council, said he welcomed the ‘British decision to supply us with the effective weapons that we’ve been asking for’.
A Downing Street spokesman said yesterday: ‘Tackling the dire humanitarian situation in Iraq remains the UK’s top priority.
‘Ensuring that Kurdish forces are able to counter IS advances is also vital. We have made clear that we will consider any requests from the Iraq or Kurdistan Regional Government favourably.’
No 10 highlighted the plight of the Dahuk region in northern Iraq where 450,000 displaced people are taking shelter – a 50 per cent increase in the area’s population. Farhad Atrushi, the governor of Dahuk, said the US and UK are politically and ethically responsible for helping Iraq.
He warned of the threat of ‘genocide’, adding: ‘We have hundreds of thousands [of refugees]. We’re going to face an international humanitarian catastrophe because many of these children will die.’
Former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown also welcomed the Government’s decision as he warned that conflicts in Iraq and Syria would result in redrawing Middle Eastern borders.
He said the Kurds could act as a ‘northern bulwark’ against the IS, but added: ‘We are acting as handmaidens to Kurdish independence, with implications for Turkey, which is why you have to have a wider strategy.’
He told the BBC: ‘It really is time that we joined the dots. Instead of having a series of plans for a series of humanitarian catastrophes, we need to have an integrated strategy for containing a widening war.’
In Brussels yesterday, Mr Hammond hailed the announcement that Iraq’s prime minister Nouri al-Maliki was relinquishing his post, calling on his replacement Haider al-Abadi to form an inclusive government.
It is hoped Mr al-Abadi will be better placed to unite Iraqis in fighting back against IS.