WASHINGTON — The Pentagon sent additional Black Hawk helicopters this week to Erbil in northern Iraq to reduce the time needed to rescue pilots who may go down conducting airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Defense Department officials said Thursday.
The move followed a demand from a crucial Arab ally that the United States place more effective search and rescue teams in northern Iraq, closer to the battleground, instead of basing aircraft for such missions much farther south in Kuwait. The United Arab Emirates suspended combat missions in late December, citing fear for the safety of its pilots after a Jordanian pilot was captured — and later burned to death by militants — after his F-16 went down in northern Syria.
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As recently as Wednesday, the military task force in Iraq that reports to Central Command put out a news release about airstrikes in Syria and Iraq on Jan. 27 and 28. “Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the U.S., Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates,” the release said.
A Central Command spokesman, asked about the discrepancy, said Wednesday night that “unless there’s a formal declaration, we leave it as it is.”
