SYDNEY — Australian special forces troops will be deployed in Iraq to assist in the fight against Islamic State militants, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said yesterday, and its aircraft will also join US-led coalition strikes.
Mr Abbott said in a nationally televised news conference that 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 the Islamic State and other groups in Syria for almost two weeks with the help of Arab allies and hitting targets in neighbouring Iraq since August. European countries have joined the campaign in Iraq, but not in Syria.
While the involvement of Australian aircraft had been flagged, the use of Australian troops on the ground in Iraq was not as widely anticipated.
Last month, Mr Abbott sent aircraft and 600 personnel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in preparation for joining the coalition. He has since said it was possible that Australian aircraft would join the strikes to combat the Islamic State, which he described as a “murderous death cult”.
“Today, the Cabinet has authorised Australian air strikes in Iraq at the request of the Iraqi Government and in support of the Iraqi government,” Mr Abbott said. “Also, subject to final legal documentation, the Cabinet has authorised 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 is on high alert for attacks by radicalised Muslims or by homegrown militants returning from fighting in the Middle East, having raised its threat level to high and undertaken a series of high-profile raids in major cities.
Officials believe up to 160 Australians have been either involved in the fighting in the Middle East or actively supporting groups fighting there. At least 20 are believed to have returned to Australia and have been said to pose a security risk.
One man was charged on Tuesday with funding a terrorist organisation, while another was arrested last month after the police said they had thwarted a plot to behead a randomly selected member of the public.
Prominent Australian Muslims say their community is being unfairly targeted by law enforcement and threatened by right-wing groups, and there are concerns that policies aimed at combating radical Islamists could create a backlash.
Mr Abbott said the Islamic State poses a grave threat to both Australia and the wider world, and that Canberra could not afford to shirk its responsibility to contribute militarily to degrading the group’s capabilities.
“The Americans certainly have quite a substantial special forces component on the ground already,” Mr Abbott added.
“My understanding is that there are United Kingdom and Canadian special forces already inside Iraq, so we’ll be operating on a much smaller scale, but in an entirely comparable way to the US special forces.”
The Australian contingent in the UAE is made up of eight Super Hornet fighter jets, an early warning and control aircraft, and an aerial refuelling aircraft, along with 400 air force personnel and 200 special force soldiers. Reuters
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