(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) UK troops are to be training Kurdish forces in Irbil, Iraq, using supplied heavy machine guns, said Ministry of Defense noting that the UK government has vowed to support the Kurdish regional government, which is fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
A specialist team of 12 UK soldiers are training Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq, the Ministry of Defense has added.
The UK has already sent supplies, including weapons, to northern Iraq to help Kurdish Peshmerga forces.
The UK training mission comes amid heavy fighting between Syrian Kurds and ISIL forces.
The Ministry insists the soldiers will not be in a combat role; they are few in number and will be on the ground for just a week.
Last month, the Ministry of Defense announced it was supplying Kurdish forces, known as the Peshmerga, with heavy machine guns, as well as thousands of rounds of ammunition.
The last batch of UK combat troops left Iraq in April 2009, with a small number staying on to train Iraqi forces until 2011.
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