DENMARK

DENMARK

Denmark will send seven F16 fighter jets to join the US coalition against Islamic State, after receiving an official request from the United States. The planes will serve only over Iraqi airspace, and not over Syria.

BRITAIN

Waged its first military campaign since air strikes against Muammar Gaddafi's forces in Libya in 2011. Britain already has delivered aid and weapons to Kurds in Iraq. It has said any strikes in Syria would be more complicated because they need the co-operation of Assad.

SAUDI ARABIA

Their contribution is seen as crucial by the West to counter accusations that it is pursuing a new Western crusade against Islam in the Middle East. In the first night of strikes, Saudi Arabia sent four F16 fighter jets. It was reported that the son of Saudi Crown Prince Salman was among the eight Saudi pilots involved.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Another important US ally in the Gulf, the UAE contributed four F16s on the first night of the Syria attacks. Its four warplanes were commanded by Maryam al-Mansoor, the UAE's first woman pilot.

BAHRAIN

Sent two warplanes to the opening wave of attacks, a relatively modest contribution which highlights the symbolic rather than military value of some Arab contributions.

JORDAN

Another close US ally, Jordan said several jets struck militant sites across its northern border with Syria. Officials portrayed the strike as aimed at securing the frontier from infiltration.

FRANCE

France carried out its first air strike in Iraq on September 19, targeting an IS logistics depot near Mosul. French jets struck again on Thursday, hours after an Algerian militant group beheaded a French tourist. French special forces are already training Kurdish Peshmerga.

AUSTRALIA

Australia has decided to send eight F18 Super Hornet fighter jets to assist in the US-led air campaign against IS fighters in Iraq. Australia also has agreed to send special forces troops to act as advisers to Iraqi forces.

BELGIUM

Belgium plans to offer six F16 fighter jets to join the air campaign against IS in Iraq. It will also send 120 pilots and support staff, as well as C130 cargo planes to carry troops and materiel to Iraq. Belgium had been contributing humanitarian assistance.

THE NETHERLANDS

Will deploy six F16 fighters and as many as 380 military personnel. Planes will be used to target Islamist militants in Iraq and the personnel would provide training and advice to Iraqi and Kurdish regional military forces for up to one year.

TURKEY

Turkey, a Nato member and close US ally that borders both Iraq and Syria, had initially ruled out taking part in the military effort, but president Tayyip Erdogan indicated a shift in position on Tuesday, saying Ankara could provide military or logistical support.

RUSSIA

President Vladimir Putin told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday that airstrikes on IS bases inside Syria "should not be carried out without the agreement of Syria". The Russian Foreign Ministry said this meant securing explicit consent, rather than merely notifying Damascus.

The key players

ISLAMIC STATE

The radical Islamists have seized swathes of Syria and Iraq in its bid to form a caliphate. Its brutal tactics - mass killing of religious and ethnic minorities, and beheading soldiers and journalists - have sparked outrage.

Al-NUSRA FRONT

Aims to establish an Islamist state in Syria, where it is one of the most militarily effective rebel groups. It is blacklisted by the US as a terrorist organisation.

KHORASAN GROUP

Until recent US-led airstrikes in Syria targeted the shadowy group, little was known about it. They are believed to be made up of around 50 veterans from Afghanistan and Pakistan, North Africa and Chechnya. Fears they're behind bomb plans in the west prompted their targeting.

FOREIGN FIGHTERS

UN resolution 2178 on stopping foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria is binding for member states but the number in Syria is between 11,000 and 12,000, with about 3000 from the west.

PESHMERGA

The Kurdish fighters of northern Iraq number around 190,000 and have been engaging IS forces recently.

IRAN

The regional Shia power has seen IS - which regards Shiites as heretics who should be killed - advance to within 25 miles of its border. Although Iran stands on the opposite side of much of the international community over Syria, it has sought co-operation against IS.

IRAQ

The former Shia-dominated government marginalised Iraq's Sunni community, helping the Sunni IS come to prominence. This month, Maliki stepped aside and a new government formed. US support will now involve an intensified effort to train and equip the Iraqi military, Peshmerga and Sunni tribesmen willing to turn against IS.

SYRIA

President Assad has repeatedly warned of an extremist threat to Syria and the region, which western powers initially dismissed but now acknowledge IS cannot be beaten without attacking its strongholds in Syria - but they still want Assad out of power and are reluctant to co-operate with him.