ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Britain announced on Thursday it was sending armed “Reaper” drones to Iraq to help it fight Islamic State militants.
“As the UK's only armed remotely piloted aircraft, Reaper will add to the strike capability we are already providing,” said Michael Fallon, British defence secretary, in a written statement to parliament.
The drones follow the conclusion of the first British training programme for Kurdish Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq earlier this week. Forty Peshmerg were instructed in the use of heavy machine guns during a week-long course run by British military forces. Their instruction will be passed on to other Kurdish units.
Also, a British company financed by the UK government is in Iraqi Kurdistan training the Peshmerga in bomb disposal skills.
The drones will support British Tornado aircraft already conducting air strikes in Iraq as part of the US-led international coalition. Britain is only operating in Iraq, not Syria where the US expanded its air strikes last month.
In the Syrian town of Kobane near the Turkish border, the advance of ISIS militants was stalled on Thursday, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. US-led warplanes launched a heavy bombardment overnight Wednesday.
In Baghdad, militants targeting Shiite areas killed at least 38 people and wounding dozens, the AP reported. No group had taken responsibility for the explosions, which brought the death toll from attacks since Sunday to at least 150 people, mostly in Baghdad, according to an AP tally.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon announced that its fight against ISIS is called Operation Inherent Resolve.
“As the UK's only armed remotely piloted aircraft, Reaper will add to the strike capability we are already providing,” said Michael Fallon, British defence secretary, in a written statement to parliament.
The drones follow the conclusion of the first British training programme for Kurdish Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq earlier this week. Forty Peshmerg were instructed in the use of heavy machine guns during a week-long course run by British military forces. Their instruction will be passed on to other Kurdish units.
Also, a British company financed by the UK government is in Iraqi Kurdistan training the Peshmerga in bomb disposal skills.
The drones will support British Tornado aircraft already conducting air strikes in Iraq as part of the US-led international coalition. Britain is only operating in Iraq, not Syria where the US expanded its air strikes last month.
In the Syrian town of Kobane near the Turkish border, the advance of ISIS militants was stalled on Thursday, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. US-led warplanes launched a heavy bombardment overnight Wednesday.
In Baghdad, militants targeting Shiite areas killed at least 38 people and wounding dozens, the AP reported. No group had taken responsibility for the explosions, which brought the death toll from attacks since Sunday to at least 150 people, mostly in Baghdad, according to an AP tally.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon announced that its fight against ISIS is called Operation Inherent Resolve.
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