UK to send more trainers to aid Iraq army

Britain will send more trainers to Iraq to help the country in its battle against the Islamic State jihadist group, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said yesterday.

Britain is carrying out air strikes against ISIS jihadists who have seized swathes of Iraq as part of a US-led campaign to help push the group back, and is already training Kurdish troops.

He said the training would be for battalions able to leave the front lines, but did not specify if it would involve Iraqi soldiers, police or both. The exact number of trainers that will be sent has not yet been decided, he said.

Prime Minister David Cameron has ruled out sending combat troops back into Iraq, wary of committing to a new conflict six months from a general election.