US provides weapons to Kurds in Iraq
The Obama administration has begun directly providing weapons to Kurdish forces who have started to make gains against Islamic militants in Iraq.
The US previously insisted on selling arms only to the Iraqi government.
American officials say the administration is close to approving plans for the Pentagon to arm the Kurds.
Recently the US military has been helping facilitate weapons deliveries from the Iraqis to the Kurds, who had been losing ground to the Islamic State militant group, formerly known as Isis.
Islamic extremists have been forced out of two towns in northern Iraq by Kurdish troops.
The militants were driven out of towns near Irbil, after fighters were aided by a series of US airstrikes targeting armed vehicles.
In Iraq there is a deepening political crisis with the country's Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki launching a scathing attack on the country's President.
