Agency :Australian aircraft will soon join the US-led coalition against Islamic State militants, and special forces troops will be deployed in Iraq to assist in the fight, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Friday.In a nationally televised news conference, Abbott said the Australian troops would be engaged in an “advise and assist” capacity to support the Iraqi army in its battle against the militant Islamist group.The United States has been bombing Islamic State and other groups in Syria for almost two weeks with the help of Arab allies, and hitting targets in neighboring Iraq since August.European countries have joined the campaign in Iraq but not in Syria.Last month, Abbott sent aircraft and 600 personnel to the United Arab Emirates in preparation for joining the coalition. He has since said it was likely Australian aircraft would join the strikes to combat Islamic State, which he described as a “murderous death cult.”While the involvement of Australian aircraft had been flagged, the use of Australian troops on the ground in Iraq was not as widely anticipated.”Today, cabinet has authorized Australian airstrikes in Iraq at the request of the Iraqi government and in support of the Iraqi government,” Abbott said. “Also, subject to final legal documentation, cabinet has authorized the deployment of Australian special forces into Iraq to advise and assist Iraqi forces.”So far Australian aircraft have been limited to humanitarian aid and delivering arms to Iraqi government-backed forces.Australia’s entry to the coalition comes after Turkey’s parliament gave the government new powers Thursday to launch military incursions into Syria and Iraq, and to allow foreign forces to use its territory for possible operations against the Islamic State group.The move opens the way for Turkey, a NATO member with a large and modern military, to play a more robust role in the US-led coalition against the Sunni militants. However, Turkey has yet to define what that role might be.The vote came as the extremists pressed their offensive against the beleaguered Kurdish town of Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, along Syria’s border with Turkey. The assault, which has forced some 160,000 Syrians to flee across the frontier in recent days, left the Kurdish militiamen scrambling to repel the militants’ advance into the town’s outskirts.The assault came despite renewed US-led airstrikes in the area overnight.Turkey’s parliament had previously approved operations into Iraq and Syria to attack Kurdish separatists or to thwart threats from the Syrian regime. Thursday’s motion, which passed 298-98, expands those powers to address threats from the Islamic State militants who control a large cross-border swath of Iraq and Syria, in some cases right up to the Turkish border.Asked what measures Turkey would take after the motion was approved, Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz said: “Don’t expect any immediate steps.”
