Britain would "favourably consider" arming Kurds to battle ISIS extremists

Reports suggest the UK would most likely to supply arms to Kurdish forces who are fighting militant groups that seized large parts of northern Iraq.

17:01 15 August 2014

Kurdish forces in Iraq, which are battling militant group Islamic State (ISIS) fighters and who are currently being supplied weapons by France and the United States, are ‘likely’ to receive more help from the United Kingdom should they request it. Downing Street sources that the UK will consider any request ‘with an open mind’.

Lord Ashdown said the UK needs to stop moving from one humanitarian catastrophe to another and instead, help in forming an overall strategy regarding the Middle East.

"Diplomacy has a greater part to play in this crisis than military effect," he said.

"I think the act of the West should be to seek to counter-balance."
Currently, the UK helps in transporting military supplies from Eastern Europe to the Kurdish forces.

Meanwhile, the UN has declared the situation in the country a “level three emergency.”

A UN Security Council is expected to approve a resolution that is aimed at putting more pressure on ISIS. It also threatens sanctions against any country that will finance the group or supply weapons to their militants.