UK to send more troops to Iraq

The British government is to send more troops to Iraq in order to help Kurdish forces in their fight against Islamic State (Isis).

The news is expected to be made official on Tuesday when the National Security Council meet to confirm the full details of the mission.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "The Defence Secretary announced the intention to provide further training to the Iraqi military in early November."

He insisted that the exact number of troops being sent to Iraq was currently unconfirmed: "No decisions on troop numbers, units or locations have been made, so this is purely speculation at this stage."

A small group of British soldiers from The Yorkshire Regiment have been training Kurdish fighters since October 2014. They have been teaching the Kurds how to maximise the use of heavy machine guns and other more technical equipment.

A logistical and advisory team have been working alongside an American team of strategists from a secret military base in Iraq.

The news comes as a senior US commander confirmed that a coalition training mission would be expanded with 1,500 soldiers being sent from the USA to help train the Kurds.

An additional $5.6bn (£3.56bn) of funding for the coalition war on Islamic State, was requested by Barrack Obama in early November. Air strikes have been regularly conducted by the coalition forces, with America also setting up a small military base at the Ain al-Asad air base in the Iraqi province of Iraq.

Air strikes have been regularly conducted by the coalition forces, with America also setting up a small military base at the Ain al-Asad air base in the Iraqi province of Iraq.

Germany has also proposed to sent 100 soldiers to help with the coalition training mission. If accepted, the soldiers would begin operations next year, most likely in neighbouring Jordan.

British troops were formally withdrawn from Iraq in May 2011, when Royal Navy forces finished training Iraqi sailors in Umm Qasr.