URGENT: Britain sends Chinook and Tornado aircraft to support Kurdish Peshmerga forces

(IraqiNews.com) Britain announced the transfer of Chinook helicopters and collection of military equipment from other countries that will be transferred to Kurdish Peshmerga forces for its support in the fight against the terrorist organization of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, ISIL.

The Office of the Presidency of the British government issued a statement that military equipment will be transferred from several countries to assist Kurdish Peshmerga forces. The Office said: “We will send a small number of Chinook helicopters to the area to be used in case we decided that we need additional humanitarian relief efforts.”

The statement added: “We also agreed on the transfer of the necessary military equipment from other contributed countries to the Peshmerga forces, without specifying the countries concerned.”

The statement was issued after an emergency meeting of the committee of emergencies chaired by the British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond after a phone call between Cameron and his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott.

The Defense Ministry confirmed that the British Royal Air Force sent Tornado fighters jets from Marham base in southeast Britain equipped with surveillance. The British aircraft directed to the base of Akrotiri in Cyprus, where will be equipped to carry out the survey.