Anzacs in Iraq step up training

Kiwi troops change tactics to keep Isis on back foot. Katie Kenny reports.

THE combined New ZealandAustralian defence force in Iraq is adding new training techniques to help local soldiers keep a hold on gains made against Islamic State.

Major General Tim Gall, Commander Joint Forces New Zealand, said the force was ‘‘night combat training’’ to counter the ‘‘non-conventional tactics’’ of the jihadists as they sought to retain the few pockets of Iraq still under Isis control.

‘‘So on the tactical level, we need to adjust the training to help Iraqi troops maintain security in areas liberated from Isis and deal with the changing nature of the fight against the Islamic militants,’’ Gall said.

Training continued at the huge military base in Iraq, Camp Taji, and at other secure alternative locations across Iraq, he said.

In June, 2016, when then-Prime Minister John Key announced the Government had agreed to extend the stay of Kiwi soldiers in Iraq by another 18 months, he promised to keep troops ‘‘behind the wire’’. This meant keeping them within Camp Taji, or other secure training locations. At the time, the Opposition described the use of other locations as the ‘‘beginning of mission creep’’.

When asked if yesterday’s announcement meant soldiers would be going beyond the wire, the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) confirmed the ‘‘alternative locations’’ were those already in use.

‘‘Earlier this year we started training at other locations, so this is no extension of the mission at all,’’ a spokesman said.

The NZDF’s Senior National Officer in Camp Taji said the first group of 35 Iraqi soldiers had started the six-day night combat course, which was developed by five NZDF trainers.

The trainees were combat veterans keen to upskill, he said.

‘‘The enhanced ability to operate under cover of darkness will help them defeat Isis.’’

The course covered patrolling and movement by night, including conducting ambushes, he said. It would finish with the trainees carrying out a night ambush.

Australian Army Major James Tarpley, Officer Commanding of Task Group Taji’s Advise and Assist team, said this type of training was vital to help the Iraqi Army keep Isis on the back foot.

Task Group Taji, made up of about 100 New Zealand soldiers and 300 Australian Defence Force personnel, has trained about 25,000 Iraqi troops and Federal Police since its mission began in May 2015, according to the NZDF.