Hornets fly Iraq missions, but no bombings

More Australian combat missions against Islamic State forces will be conducted this week in Iraq. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIAN Super Hornet fighter-bombers have completed a second day of missions over Iraq, again without bombing Islamic State targets.

FOUR aircraft - operating in pairs - departed the Australian Middle East support base on Monday and returned with their weapon loads intact.

Further air missions will be conducted this week.On the diplomatic front, Australia is finalising an agreement with the government of Iraq that will allow deployment of some 200 Australian special forces to advise and assist Iraqi security forces in the fight against Islamic State.Prime Minister Tony Abbott says Australia is finalising the legal documentation that gives authority for special forces soldiers to help support and train Iraqi forces."We've written to the Iraqis, the Iraqis have written back to us and we now need to consider their response to finalise our considerations," he told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday."I hope that can be done very quickly because it is an absolutely critical mission upon which our forces will be embarked."This status of forces agreement is standard for any operations in a foreign nation.It creates the legal protections for Australian forces inside Iraq, exempting them from any action under Iraqi law.Negotiations have been conducted by Australia's embassy in Baghdad and have been protracted. Iraq has just formed a new government which is also negotiating similar agreements with a range of other countries.Australia is finalising a similar agreement with the new government of Afghanistan for troops to stay on next year under the new Resolute Support mission.Deployment of the special forces soldiers, drawn from the Sydney-based 2nd Commando Regiment, will be a significant Australian addition to the conflict.They will operate in small teams advising and assisting Iraqi and Kurdish security forces to help stiffen their resolve to stand and fight.Each team will include personnel with a range of special skills, possibly including joint terminal attack controllers, soldiers trained to identify targets before calling in precision air strikes.The government has yet to give the go-ahead for them to operate in this role.

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