(VOVworld) – Seven western governments have joined the US to provide urgently needed arms and equipment to Kurdish forces in their fight against Islamic State militants in Iraq. US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Tuesday that the 7 nations are Albania, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom. The collaboration was announced a day after General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the Islamic State’s jihadists as a regional threat that will soon become a threat to the US and Europe.