Australia's Cabinet approves airstrikes in Iraq..[ 4763 ]

Australia joins fight against ISIS in Iraq, hours after Turkey voted for action

By Laura Smith-Spark, CNN

October 3, 2014 -- Updated 0818 GMT (1618 HKT)

Source: CNN

(CNN) -- Australia became the latest nation to join the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS on Friday, as its Cabinet authorized airstrikes by Australian military jets in Iraq and the use of its special forces.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott, speaking at a joint press conference with defense chiefs, said ISIS had "effectively declared war on the world" and posed a threat to Australia and its people.

ISIS must be disrupted and degraded, he said, and "it is absolutely in Australia's national interests that this mission go ahead."

 

Cam catches ISIS shelling Syrian city

The Cabinet authorized the deployment of Australian Special Forces into Iraq to "advise and assist" Iraqi forces, Abbott said, subject to final legal approvals from Iraq. Australian aircraft already began flying support missions over Iraq this week.

Australia's decision to join the military campaign came only hours after Turkey's Parliament voted overwhelmingly to authorize military force against ISIS in both Iraq and Syria.

The Turkish Parliament voted 298-98 to not only to let the country's military leave its borders to go after ISIS and other terror groups, but also allow foreign troops to launch operations from Turkey.

The authorization, which came as ISIS fighters laid siege to towns just south of the Turkish border, takes effect Saturday.

It is a big shift for Turkey, a NATO member, which until now offered only tacit support to the U.S.-led coalition of about 40 nations going after ISIS in Iraq and Syria in various capacities.

Civilians flee Kobani

The mood of Turkey's leaders changed in recent days, with ISIS on the nation's doorstep and tens of thousands fleeing across its border.

The Prime Minister submitted a motion declaring that Turkey was seriously threatened by the chaos in Syria and Iraq, where ISIS has captured land and is trying to establish an Islamic caliphate.

For months, ISIS has been advancing, capturing portions of northern and eastern Syria and western and northern Iraq for what it says is its new Islamic state, or caliphate.

The fighting has only intensified in the region in recent days, with ISIS advancing and nearly surrounding the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobani, known in Arabic as Ayn al-Arab, just a few miles from the border with Turkey.

Remaining civilians were ordered to evacuate and headed to the border Thursday, as Kurdish fighters declared their readiness to take on the ISIS militants in street warfare.

One Kurdish fighter, who gave only his first name, Botan, told CNN they were not afraid to die if necessary.

"We know what will happen if ISIS takes over our town and what they will do to us," he said. "Our fight is not just for the Kurds, it is a fight for all of humanity. When people are getting their heads chopped off and tossed aside like animals, it is a duty to fight."

If ISIS, also known as ISIL or Islamic State, seizes Kobani, it will control a complete swath of land from its self-declared capital of Raqqa on the Euphrates River to the Turkish border, more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) away.

Special forces

Abbott warned that the deployment to Iraq could be "quite lengthy," lasting months rather than weeks, but that it would be no longer than strictly necessary.

"Yes, it is a combat deployment but it is an essentially humanitarian mission to protect the people of Iraq and ultimately the people of Australia from the murderous rage of the ISIL death cult," he said.

Abbott said Australia's special forces would be acting in support of Iraqi forces, in a similar way to those sent by the United States.

"The Americans certainly have quite a substantial special forces component on the ground already," he said. "My understanding is that there are UK 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 United States special forces."

Australia currently has six Super Hornet strike fighters based in the United Arab Emirates and Parliament has authorized the use of up to eight, said Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin.

Australian authorities believe there are at least 60 Australians fighting in the Middle East with terrorist groups, chiefly ISIS, and that at least 100 more support terrorist groups through funding and recruitment. Counter-terror police have carried out a number of raids in Australia in recent days.

CNN's Radina Gigova and Chelsea J. Carter contributed to this report.