(VOVworld) - Singapore will provide military support for the US-led coalition to fight the Islamic State (IS), but will not take part in combat operations.

Singapore's Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen

Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen told parliament on Monday that the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) will send officers to the US Central Command and the Combined Joint Task Force Headquarters spearheading the campaign in Iraq and Syria. The SAF will also deploy a Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft and an imagery analysis team. Minister Eng Hen said that joining the international effort contributes directly to Singapore’s national security.

IS militants captured and killed hundreds of Yazidis when they assaulted the town of Sinjar

In another development, some 230 members of Iraq’s Yazidi minority were freed after being kidnapped by IS militants, said Nouri Othman Sinjari, spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government, on Monday. 150 of them were women and children. The IS militants captured and killed hundreds of Yazidis when they assaulted the town of Sinjar, 100km west of Mosul in Nineveh province.