British troops heading for Iraq to counter Islamic State

The deployment will add to the 1,100 UK personnel currently supporting the multinational effort against Islamic State.

The Defence Secretary also confirmed that Britain will provide Kurdish Peshmerga fighters with a further £1.4 million worth of ammunition.

According to the Ministry of Defence, UK personnel in the region have already helped to train more than 18,000 members of the Iraqi security forces (ISF), including Kurdish forces, in Besmaya, Erbil and Taji.

The deployment is part of a broader response across coalition countries to a call at the Counter Islamic State Ministerial meeting in May to accelerate the campaign following recent progress in key cities such as Ramadi, Hit and Fallujah.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said:

“Iraqi forces have Daesh on the back foot and are retaking territory, hitting its finances and striking its leadership.

This deployment will help the Iraqi forces to build on this success and push them back further.”

Penny Mordaunt said:

“The UK Armed Forces have continued to play a full part in the Global Counter-Daesh Coalition programme to build the capacity of Iraqi (including Kurdish) security forces.

Some 40% of occupied territory has now been recovered. In terms of logistic support, following the UK’s substantial contributions of non-lethal support, heavy machine guns, ammunition and military equipment to meet immediate Kurdish Peshmerga needs in early 2015, the UK has provided airlift to facilitate other international contributions and, subject to parliamentary approval, is planning to provide a further £1 million of ammunition later this summer for Peshmerga use.”

In March 2016, an additional 30 troops were deployed to train Iraqi forces against Islamic State.