Canada will use two military cargo planes to send weapons to Kurdish forces fighting against Islamic militants in Northern Iraq, the Prime Minister Office's announced Friday. (Hussein Malla/Associated Press)
Canada is committing two cargo planes to move military supplies into northern Iraq as part of the international effort to bolster Kurdish forces in the embattled region.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says a CC-177 Globemaster and a CC-130J Hercules transport will begin shuttling arms provided by allies to the Iraqi city of Irbil over the next few days.
"As the murderous rampage of the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) continues, Canada remains committed to providing assistance to the thousands of Iraqi children, women and men, including Yezidis and Christians, who desperately need it," Harper was quoted as saying in a statement from his office Friday.
The flights, which include some 30 Canadian Forces personnel, will continue as long as there is equipment and supplies to move.
The U.S. and France are already sending weapons, while Britain has indicated it's also prepared to help arm the Kurdish forces fighting militants from ISIL, also known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.
The al-Qaeda splinter group's hardline militants have already seized large parts of northern Iraq.
The military aircraft are in addition to the $5 million in humanitarian aid committed last weekend by the Conservative government.
