Britain to send almost 200 extra troops to Iraq to help fight so-called Islamic State

Almost 200 extra British troops are being sent to Iraq to help the country with its fight against so-called Islamic State (IS), Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has announced.

The additional personnel and an engineering squadron will bring the total number of British personnel in Iraq to 1,100.

Fifty experts will be sent to the Al Asad Airbase in western Iraq to provide training on improvised explosive devices, infantry skills and combat first aid, while 90 personnel will help with guarding the airbase.

A further 30 staff will establish a headquarters aimed at helping command the mission, and an engineering squadron will be deployed for around six months to build infrastructure for the project.

Iraq will also be given heavy machine gun and sniper rifle ammunition worth £1.4 million to fight IS.

Mr Fallon said in a statement: "With Coalition support, Iraqi forces are pushing Daesh back and reoccupying territory. Fallujah has now been liberated after suffering at the hands of Daesh since early 2014."

The RAF has so far conducted around 900 air strikes against IS targets in Iraq and Syria.

British forces have also helped to train more than 18,000 members of the Iraqi security forces, including Kurdish forces.