Denmark, Britain join U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State

(Reuters) - Denmark announced on Friday it will send seven F-16 fighter jets to take part in a U.S.-led military coalition attacking Islamic State militants in Iraq, and parliament in Britain approved British participation. Danish and British jets will join a growing international force arrayed against the radical Sunni group which controls oilfields, farmland and military bases in a wide, cross-border region straddling east Syria and north Iraq. The pledges came on a fourth day of U.S. and Arab air strikes against the Islamic State in Syria. Below is a summary of where key countries stand: DENMARK Denmark will send seven F-16 fighter jets to join the U.S. coalition against Islamic State in Iraq, after receiving an official request from the United States, Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said. She said she expected the Danish parliament to approve the country's participation next week, and the planes would start operating right away. The planes will serve only over Iraqi airspace, and not over Syria. Many Western countries, who have called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, are wary of military intervention against his foes which could strengthen his hand in Syria's three-year civil war. BRITAIN Parliament voted to approve joining the U.S.-led air strikes, setting the stage for Britain to wage its first military campaign since taking part in air strikes against Muammar Gaddafi's forces in Libya in 2011. Prime Minister David Cameron recalled parliament from recess after the Iraqi government requested British intervention. Cameron was careful to secure cross-party backing after he failed to win parliamentary support last year for proposed military action against Assad. Britain already has delivered aid and weapons to Kurds in Iraq and promised them training. Britain has said any strikes in Syria would be more complicated because they could not be carried out in cooperation with Assad's government. SAUDI ARABIA The major oil exporter is one of four Gulf Arab countries which have played a role in the air strikes in Syria. Their contribution to the fight against Islamic State is seen as crucial by the West to counter accusations that it is pursuing a new Western crusade against Islam in the Middle East. A Gulf security source familiar with the air strikes said that in the first night of strikes Saudi Arabia sent four F-16 fighter jets. Saudi media reported the son of Saudi Crown Prince Salman was among the eight Saudi pilots who took part. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Another important U.S. ally in the Gulf, the UAE contributed four F-16s on the first night of the Syria attacks, the Gulf source said. Its four warplanes were commanded by Maryam al-Mansoor, the UAE's first woman pilot, a source in the UAE said. The United States said Saudi Arabia and the UAE also took part in the third night of air strikes, but did not spell out the scale of their operations. BAHRAIN According to the Gulf source, Bahrain sent two warplanes to the opening wave of attacks, a relatively modest contribution which highlights the symbolic rather than military value of some Arab contributions. QATAR Qatar, home to a U.S. Central Command regional headquarters, contributed a Mirage jet, which did not drop any bombs or take an active part in the attack, the source said. JORDAN Another close U.S. ally, Jordan said several jets struck militant sites across its northern border with Syria. Officials portrayed the strike as aimed at securing the frontier from infiltration. FRANCE France carried out its first air strike in Iraq on Sept. 19, targeting an Islamic State logistics depot near Mosul. French jets struck again on Thursday, hours after an Algerian militant group beheaded a French tourist in retaliation for the France's involvement. French special forces are already training Kurdish Peshmerga forces in north Iraq and have sent them weapons. President Francois Hollande had ruled out joining air strikes on Syria, but Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian appeared to soften that position on Thursday. Le Drian said strikes on Syria were not an immediate issue but, pressed on whether it was a possibility in future, he said: "The question is on the table." AUSTRALIA Australia has decided to send eight F-18 Super Hornet fighter jets to assist in the U.S.-led air campaign against Islamic State fighters in Iraq. Australia also has agreed to send special forces troops to act as advisers to Iraqi forces. BELGIUM Belgium's plan to offer six F-16 fighter jets to join the air campaign against Islamic State in Iraq was approved by parliament on Friday. It will also send 120 pilots and support staff, as well as C-130 cargo planes to carry troops and materiel to Iraq. Belgium had been contributing humanitarian assistance. But with jihadists from Belgium joining Islamic State, Belgian officials say it is in their interest to participate in coalition efforts to halt its spread. THE NETHERLANDS The Dutch government said on Wednesday it would deploy six F-16 fighters and as many as 380 military personnel to support the U.S.-led fight against Islamic State insurgents in Iraq. Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher told reporters the planes would be used to target Islamist militants in Iraq and the personnel would provide training and advice to Iraqi and Kurdish regional military forces for up to one year. TURKEY Turkey, a NATO member and close U.S. ally that borders both Iraq and Syria, had initially ruled out taking part in the military effort against Islamic State, but President Tayyip Erdogan indicated a shift in position on Tuesday, saying Ankara could provide military or logistical support. The change came after IS fighters freed 46 Turkish nationals who were held hostage. Turkey has felt a direct impact as a result of Islamic State's ruthless assaults in Syria. More than 130,000 Syrian Kurds have surged across its border in the past week, fleeing an IS advance on the town of Kobani. RUSSIA President Vladimir Putin told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday that air strikes on Islamic State bases inside Syria "should not be carried out without the agreement of the government of Syria." The Russian Foreign Ministry said this meant securing explicit consent, rather than merely notifying Damascus. (Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Compiled by Dominic Evans, editing by Peter Millership)