AP, Canberra, Australia, 31 August 2014 — An Australian military aircraft will soon fly guns and ammunition to the northern Iraqi city of Irbil to help Kurds fight Islamic State militants as part of a U.S.-led multination mission, Australia’s prime minister said on Sunday.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said his government would join the United States, Britain, Canada, France and Italy in delivering rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and assault rifle ammunition at the request of the U.S. and Iraqi governments.
“While we understandably shrink from reaching out to these conflicts, the truth is that these conflicts reach out to us,” Abbott told reporters.
“None of us want to get involved in another Middle Eastern war, but it is important to do what reasonably can be done to avert potential genocide,” he added.