Iraqi govn't appreciates New Zealand military training

Iraqi officials had expressed appreciation for New Zealand's participation in a joint mission with Australia to train Iraqi troops in the fight against Islamic State insurgents, New Zealand Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee said in a statement from his office Thursday.

Brownlee had led a delegation of senior lawmakers to review the country's troop deployment in Iraq.

The training was highly appreciated by the Iraqi government, a point reinforced by Iraqi Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi in a meeting on Tuesday, Brownlee said.

"Task Group Taji has trained over 4,000 Iraqi troops since being deployed alongside Australian troops in April 2015, considerably improving the Iraqi Security Forces'chances of removing Daesh (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) from their country," Brownlee said.

"It was pleasing to hear from senior Iraqi commanders that Task Group Taji-trained troops have on a number of occasions captured and held towns and territory from Daesh using their newly attained skills," he said.

"These commanders speak highly of the training and intend to cycle units back through Taji for further training when possible."

The New Zealand Defence Force deployment in Iraq was part of a multi-country Building Partner Capacity (BPC) program across five sites, which had trained around 19,000 members of the Iraqi Security Forces since November 2014.

The training program centered on the provision of basic skills, including training in the laws of armed conflict, human rights, basic weapons handling, combat first aid, obstacle breaching techniques and planning for combat operations. Endit