British military trains Iraqi Kurds in fight against ISIL

The British military has deployed a specialist team to Erbil to help train Kurdish peshmerga how to use the heavy machine guns Britain supplied in September.

Kurdish peshmerga fighters fire a mortar during clashes with ISIL militants in the Al Zerga area near Tikrit city, in Salahuddin province on October 8, 2014. UK troops are in Erbil to train Kurdish fighters on how to use the heavy machine guns Britain supplied in September. Reuters
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LONDON // British soldiers are in Iraq training the Kurdish peshmerga forces battling ISIL militants, the ministry of defence in London said on Saturday.

A “small, specialist team” is operating in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, training peshmerga how to use the heavy machine guns Britain supplied in September.

The deployment was approved by defence secretary Michael Fallon.

“The government has previously made clear its intention to provide training to the peshmerga as part of the continued effort to assist in the fight against ISIL,” the ministry said.

“The defence secretary has approved the deployment of a small, specialist team of non-combat army trainers which is now in the Erbil area providing instruction on operating, employing and maintaining the heavy machine guns that were gifted by the UK last month.”

The Sunday Times newspaper reported that the soldiers were from a light role infantry battalion whose headquarters are at the British sovereign base on Cyprus.

Royal Air Force Tornado jets have been taking part in bombing raids on ISIL targets in Iraq.

UK prime minister David Cameron has ruled out putting “combat boots on the ground” in the campaign to defeat the extremist group.

British forces were part of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 that overthrew Saddam Hussein. The last British combat troops left in 2009, with a small number staying on until 2011 to train Iraqi forces.

Germany has given assault rifles and portable anti-tank rocket launchers to Kurdish forces and German troops have also been in the Erbil area training them to use the new weapons.

* Agence France-Presse