Australia to join multinational weapons drop into Iraq

Australia will drop military equipment and aid to Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State militants in northern Iraq in response to a request from the US, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Sunday.Australia will join Canada, Italy, France, Britain and the US in providing arms and humanitarian relief as part of a multinational effort to be coordinated by Iraq and other countries in the region, Abbott said. ‘The situation in Iraq represents a humanitarian catastrophe,’ Abbott said in a statement. He said Australia would continue to work with international partners to ‘address the security threat’ posed by the militants.