Tri-Service

Australian Defence Minister Unable to Name Leader of IS

Australia's Defence Minister was unable to name Islamic State's leader on the day the country announced that it is to send 330 more troops to Iraq.

In an interview on Australian television Kevin Andrews repeatedly avoided answering when asked who the head of the extremist group was, saying its leadership is complex and shifting.

Whilst this is partly true, the group's leader is universally recognised as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, both by Islamic State supporters and Western countries.

Australia's defense minister is unable to name the leader of the Islamic State https://t.co/091qDUrfOP https://t.co/SPGyk1BGbv
— Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) April 14, 2015

The United States is currently offering a reward of $10 million for information leading to his capture or death; second only to the $25m bounty on al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Mr Andrews was asked the question four times, but was unable to name al-Baghdadi, saying he was "not going to go into operational matters".

The Defence Minister later told Fairfax Media:

"Focusing on individuals ignores the threat that extremist organisations present. We remain firm in our resolve to defeat Da'esh [Islamic State]."

It came on the same day Mr Andrews had announced with the country's Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, that additional troops will be travelling to Iraq from Wednesday to train local forces in the fight against Islamic State.

The deployment will be based around 30 miles north of the capital Baghdad and is expected to be operational by May, lasting two years.

The country's Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the troops would join up with 100 military personnel from New Zealand.

He emphasised that they would not be performing a combat role, but would help train the Iraqi army in its fight against Islamic State militants.

Australia has sent six F/A-18 fighter jets, 200 special forces members and 400 military support staff since joining the fight against IS last September.