US lawmakers introduce bill to aid Kurds fighting ISIS
WASHINGTON: Top lawmakers on the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee are introducing legislation to permit U.S. arms to be sent directly to the Kurds fighting against ISIS militants in Iraq.
Republican Chairman Rep. Ed Royce and the panel's top Democrat, Rep. Eliot Engel, said Thursday that regional forces being supported by U.S. coalition airstrikes are badly under-supplied.
Royce says that after months of fighting, the committee continues to get reports that Kurdish forces are outgunned. He says they have yet to receive the artillery, long-range mortars and anti-tank weaponry they have requested.
At Iraq's request, the U.S. began airstrikes in Tikrit Wednesday in support of a stalled Iraqi ground offensive to retake the city from ISIS. Initially, Baghdad chose to partner with Iran.
