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1st batch of Iraqi soldiers graduate from New Zealand-Australia training camp

Xinhua, June 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

New Zealand troops are teaching Iraqi forces new techniques to fight Islamic State (IS) insurgents, the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) said Tuesday, announcing the first group of 700 Iraqi soldiers graduated from a joint New Zealand-Australia training camp.

Soldiers of the 76th Brigade, part of the 16th Division of the Iraqi Army, had left the Taji Military Camp, just north of Baghdad, to join the fight against IS, also known as Daesh.

Commander Joint Forces New Zealand Major-General Tim Gall said the eight-week training program had been well-received by the Iraqi troops.

"Our trainers have covered a range of individual and military skills, including basic weapons handling, small group tactics, urban operations as well as the planning and conduct of operations, including medical and logistics support," Gall said in a statement.

"The aim from the start was to get these soldiers to a standard agreed by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense and we have achieved that. "

A comprehensive pre-deployment training strategy had been designed by a team of specialists, including linguists, security force assistance, training evaluation, coaching and mentoring, and irregular warfare, to modeling the behaviors and values of a professional army.

Australian and New Zealand trainers were teaching sophisticated new survival techniques such as defeating improvised explosive devices (IEDs), weapons commonly used by Daesh.

"An IED is effectively a homemade explosive device designed to cause death or injury by using explosives that are hidden in a variety of places including roads, buildings, and vehicles and on their person, and set off using a variety of trigger mechanisms," said Gall.

Training involved understanding different types of IEDs and how to either deal with them or mark them safely so they could be avoided.

The government announced in February that the deployment of up to 143 NZDF personnel on a combined mission with the Australian Defence Force to help train the Iraqi Security Forces in the fight against Daesh.

The Building Partner Capacity mission is a non-combat mission for a two-year period, with a review to be conducted after nine months. Endi