The Netherlands is sending 1,000 helmets and 1,000 bullet-proof vests to help the Kurds in Iraq who are fighting against Islamic State militants in the north.

The donation is aimed at helping the Kurds better defend themselves, foreign affairs minister Frans Timmermans and defence minister Jeanine Hennis said in a briefing to parliament.

The equipment will be airlifted to Bagdad and then transported to northern Iraq and handed over to the Kurdish regional authorities, the ministers said.

‘An important precondition for the shipment is that the central Iraqi authorities agree to it… the experience of other Western countries is that such permission may well be granted,’ the briefing said.

The cost of the equipment and the transport is put at €1.1m.

Germany, Italy, Britain and France have already agreed to help arm the Kurds.