United States could open air base in Iraqi's Kurdistan to help in fight against Islamic State

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World Defense & Security News - United States
 
 
United States could open air base in Iraqi's Kurdistan to help in fight against Islamic State
 
The United States is to establish a military base in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan to purportedly provide logistical assistance to warplanes of the US-led coalition against ISIL terrorists, says a report citing officials in the region. Helgurt Hikmet, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Peshmerga, made the announcement to Turkey’s official Anadolu Agency on Monday, February 11.
     
The United States is to establish a military base in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan to purportedly provide logistical assistance to warplanes of the US-led coalition against ISIL terrorists, says a report citing officials in the region. Helgurt Hikmet, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Peshmerga, made the announcement to Turkey’s official Anadolu Agency on Monday, February 11.
The United States already deployed UH-60 Black Hawks near Erbil for SAR operations
     
Hikmet said US military personnel and warplanes would be deployed to the base after the completion of construction works.

"The base is close to Erbil, the capital of the regional government," Hikmet said. "The warplanes will do surveillance, but the warplanes which will bomb ISIL targets will not take off from here."

Hekmat said the base – once ready – would be used by all countries that are part of the US-led coalition arrayed against insurgents fighting under the Islamic State (ISIS) banner.

US warplanes have been pounding ISIS positions in Iraq since early August, with some Western and Arab states more recently taking part.

In a news briefing in Washington on Tuesday, Pentagon Spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby denied that the US had any military bases in Erbil.

We don't have a military base in Erbil. There are some Combat Search and Rescue assets that we have up in Erbil, should they be needed, and we're grateful for the space that they're able to occupy up there,” he said.

According to the New York Times the Iraqi government has been angered by the stationing of the helicopters in the Kurdish capital, with officials in Baghdad voicing their complaints to U.S. officials that the deployment will increase Kurdish calls for independence.

Baghdad had explicitly protested the American decision to deploy the Black Hawks to Kurdistan, a senior U.S. administration official reported. However, the official declined to reveal how many helicopters were being dispatched to the region.

The deployment reportedly happened after the United Arab Emirates refused to fly missions over Iraq unless there was a quick rescue operation in place to rescue other downed pilots.