Israel has gifted 16 U.S.-supplied Cobra helicopters to the Royal Jordanian Air Force to help the country deal with threat of the Islamic State extremist group, media reports said Thursday. The supply of the Israeli helicopters was approved by the Pentagon, reported Reuters. The 16 Israeli AH-1S Cobra helicopter gunships were retired from operational use in 2013.
"These choppers are for border security," a U.S. official source told Reuters. "Around 16, though some may have been used by the Jordanians for spare parts rather than kept intact," source said when asked about how many of them given to the kingdom.
The gifted helicopters were on Israel's surplus list since 2013, according to Defence Update. Israel, earlier, had attempted to sell the helicopters to Nigeria, but the U.S. blocked that attempt.
The reports about the helicopter deal come a day after U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter concluded his Israeli visit. Carter met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other leaders to try to ease tensions over the Iran nuclear deal, reported AFP. He is also to travel to Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Jordan faced a threat of an invasion by Islamic State group, which is already ruling large part of Syria and Iraq. King Abdulla II recently offered to arm Bedouin tribes living in border areas near Iraq and Syria to fight Islamic State as well Nusra Front, according to Arutz Sheva. The Nusra Front, an Al Qaeda affiliate, controls much of the area on northern side of Syrian border.
