New Zealand troops to train for Iraq deployment

Wellington:New Zealand Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee on Tuesday said that the country’s troops are scheduled to begin training for a possible deployment to Iraq as part of the anti-Islamic State (IS) coalition.
The cabinet agreed in November last year to use 10 military planners to determine whether New Zealand could play a role in helping the Iraqi security forces to fight the IS, and they were still assessing the possible nature and location of such a mission, he said.
“They are doing their own reconnaissance as well as working alongside the Australian Defence Force,” Xinhua quoted Brownlee as saying.
“While the team’s work is not complete, I have accepted the chief of defence force’s request to begin specific training for a possible building partner capacity role in Iraq,” he added.
Contingency training would include force protection, cultural aware-ness and skills relevant to a possible deployment.
Last week, visiting British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond asked New Zealand to join an international coalition to fight IS insurgents with the US and Austra-lia.(IANS)