ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Rudaw has learned from a high-level American official that the United States has offered the Kurds air support in their fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
The official source who didn’t want to be named said that the US would also provide the Kurdish Peshmerga with arms and military expertise.
The American offer is said to include humanitarian aid to be transported by air to the people of Shangal and Zumar who have been displaced as a result of fighting in their areas.
This newspaper has also learned that a number of European countries have contacted the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) with offers of military support.
The Kurdish forces went on the offensive against militants of the Islamic State (IS) for the first time on Sunday.
Going from a defensive policy to full-scale offensive came after the Islamic State overran Zumar and Shangal west of Mosul where the majority of the population are Yezidi Kurds.
Kurdish forces have faced a major challenge defending more than 1,000 kilometers of border with the newly created Islamic State.
In the past 24 hours the Peshmerga have reclaimed many villages from the Islamic militants as well as the Rabia border crossing between the Kurdistan Region and Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan).
