NATO to expand Iraqi training mission

NATO will expand its training mission in Iraq and help the country develop new academies for its armed forces, according to remarks made by Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday.

NATO already has a small team of military and civilian personnel in Iraq and uses mobile teams to train national forces in clearing mine areas, countering home-made bombs and defusing explosives.

"We will scale up," Stoltenberg said after talks with NATO defence ministers in Brussels. He said the mission will be a non-combat one and focus on building up the training capacity of Iraqi officers.

Speaking to AP, NATO diplomats suggested the mission could involve up to 200 personnel, and is expected to take place in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities, as well as possibly in Jordan.

After the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the Iraqi army disbanded. Tens of thousands of trained personnel were left jobless and bitter.

The Islamic State took control of large swathes of Iraq in 2014, including the northern city of Mosul. The group has been dislodged from the third of Iraq it once held, but still poses a major threat to the country.

"We believe that it's in NATO's best interests that we project stability at the government of Iraq's request," US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters.

Stoltenberg declined to comment on how long the new training mission will last.

"One thing is to win on the battlefield, but afterwards we have to make sure that we are able to stabilise the country, and enable the local forces … the local authorities to be in charge," Stoltenberg said.

"It's dangerous to leave too early because then we may be forced back into combat operations."