Britain's Defence Secretary announced that hundreds of UK troops will be sent to Iraq next month, as part of the fight against Islamic State (IS) in the region.
In an interview with the Telegraph, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said the troops would be there to train Iraqi and Kurdish forces, but added that there would also be a combat-ready contingent.
“We have not finalised numbers yet - obviously we have got a lot of kit back from Afghanistan that we can make available - but we are talking very low hundreds,” said Fallon.
The soldiers "will not be expected to fight a war but will be there to defend the British personnel if necessary", he added.
There are currently 50 British troops in Iraq training local forces, with a specialist team training Kurdish peshmerga how to use UK-supplied machine guns.
Britian is also currently engaged in air strikes against IS, with Fallon stating the number conducted was "second only to the United States, five times as many as France."
“The challenge now is that the air strikes have changed Isil’s patterns. They are not using large formations out in the open any more,” he added. “They are increasingly tucked away in towns and villages. That means they have got to be rooted out by ground troops.
“This has to be done by a home-grown army, not by western groups.”
The move was supported by the British opposition with Shadow defence secretary Vernon Coaker who said, "it is right that the UK's armed forces continue to provide training and equipment in support of this effort."
However, he called for more information on the deployment, saying "the government should provide clarity about the scale, scope and timeframe of the deployment of these further trainers”.
In an interview with the Telegraph, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said the troops would be there to train Iraqi and Kurdish forces, but added that there would also be a combat-ready contingent.
“We have not finalised numbers yet - obviously we have got a lot of kit back from Afghanistan that we can make available - but we are talking very low hundreds,” said Fallon.
The soldiers "will not be expected to fight a war but will be there to defend the British personnel if necessary", he added.
There are currently 50 British troops in Iraq training local forces, with a specialist team training Kurdish peshmerga how to use UK-supplied machine guns.
Britian is also currently engaged in air strikes against IS, with Fallon stating the number conducted was "second only to the United States, five times as many as France."
“The challenge now is that the air strikes have changed Isil’s patterns. They are not using large formations out in the open any more,” he added. “They are increasingly tucked away in towns and villages. That means they have got to be rooted out by ground troops.
“This has to be done by a home-grown army, not by western groups.”
The move was supported by the British opposition with Shadow defence secretary Vernon Coaker who said, "it is right that the UK's armed forces continue to provide training and equipment in support of this effort."
However, he called for more information on the deployment, saying "the government should provide clarity about the scale, scope and timeframe of the deployment of these further trainers”.