Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The United States has reported arms shipments to the Kurdish Regional Government.

Officials said the administration of President Barack Obama approved delivery of weapons to Kurdish security forces, called Peshmerga, in northern Iraq. They said the arms included anti-tank guided missiles, mortars, assault rifles and a range of munitions.

“We’re working with the government of Iraq to increasingly and very quickly get urgently needed arms to the Kurds,” State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said.

In an interview with CNN television on Aug. 11, Ms. Harf said the U.S. arming of KRG has been aided by the Iraqi government. She said the shipments were meant to help Kurdish forces stop Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which was advancing toward the Kurdish capital of Irbil.

“This includes the Iraqis providing their own weapons from their own stocks, and we’re working to do the same thing from our stocks of weapons that we have,” Ms. Harf said.

Officials said the U.S. effort began in early August within days of ISIL’s offensive in northern Iraq. They said the supplies were being flown to KRG and directed by the joint operations center in Irbil.

“We have seen an unprecedented level of cooperation between the Iraqi forces and the Kurdish forces,” Ms. Harf said. “So any way we can get the very urgently needed arms to the Kurds we are actively working on.”

Officials said the U.S. and Iraqi arms shipments marked a recognition that air strikes would not stop ISIL’s advance. Both Iraqi and U.S. aircraft have conducted strikes on ISIL convoys near Irbil with little effect.

“I think, in the immediate areas where we have focused our strikes, we’ve had a very temporary effect,” Lt. Gen. William Mayville, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Aug. 11. “And we may have blunted some tactical decisions to move in those directions and move further east to Irbil.”

The United States has mobilized other NATO members to help the Kurds. Officials cited Australia, Britain, France and Italy.

“We will, again, build partnerships, as we are now, recognizing the threat not just to the United States, but to the civilized world,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said.

  Irbil, KRG, Lt. Gen. William Mayville, Marie Harf, U.S. rushes arms to Kurdish forces as air strikes only slow ISIL advance