The Australian military will deploy a military force to the Middle East as part of a US-led operation against Islamic State, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Sunday.
“The government has decided to prepare and to deploy to the United Arab Emirates a military force,” Mr. Abbott said .
The decision was taken in a meeting of his Cabinet and the national security committee, following a request from the US, he said. Australia will to send 600 military personnel and up to eight Super Hornets and other aircraft, Mr. Abbott said.
Australian forces stationed at the Al-Minhad Air Base in Dubai have been flying weapons to Iraq to aid government and allied forces fighting Islamic State forces. It has also made humanitarian aid drops to civilians caught in the fighting since the Islamic State declared its aim of establishing a caliphate in Iraq and Syria earlier this year.
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