Three hundred more troops off to bolster force

But the military admits there is a genuine risk of insider attacks by Iraqi soldiers on the Australians, David Wroe reports

An extra 300 Australian troops are being sent to partner New Zealand soldiers in training Iraqis in the fight against the Islamic State terror group, with Prime Minister Tony Abbott refusing to rule out boosting the deployment further.

He confirmed yesterday the troops would be sent to Iraq for a long-term training role at the Taji base north of Baghdad. The mission would last for two years. The Australians will as expected partner with New Zealand forces, but the United States, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark will also contribute forces to help with training.

The Australians will gradually rotate with their roughly 170 special forces commandos who are now advising and assisting the Iraqis but most of whom will come home by September.

Flanked by the Chief of the Defence Force, Mark Binskin, and Defence Minister Kevin Andrews, Abbott said the new deployment marked the ‘‘next phase’’ of Australia’s contribution to fight the brutal group causing upheaval in the Middle East.

‘‘We have slowed Daesh’s advance but Iraq’s regular forces now require sup- port to build their capacity to reclaim and to hold territory,’’ Abbott said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State.

But asked whether this would be the last addition to Australia’s contribution to the fight against the Islamic State, he declined to rule out future increases.

‘‘It would be wrong of me to say that this is the last that we will do here, but nevertheless what we are doing at this stage is prudent, it’s proportionate,’’ he said.

Abbott said the training mission would last two years, though it will be reviewed after the first year.

Air Chief Marshal Binskin said Australia’s commandos had already helped Iraq’s elite Counter Terrorism Service carry out ground offensives.

But the country’s regular troops would be needed to hold the territory once it was retaken, he said.

The new Australian force will remain ‘‘behind the wire’’ on Taji base.

‘‘Since October, Daesh have not made any significant territorial gains,’’ Binskin said.

‘‘They’ve lost the ability to amass their forces in the open, they don’t fly their flags, their leaders aren’t wearing uniforms.’’

Both Abbott and Binskin said there was a genuine risk of insider attacks by Iraqi soldiers on the Australians – socalled ‘‘green on blue’’ attacks that claimed several Australian lives in Afghanistan. ‘‘It’s a real risk. It’s a risk I take very seriously,’’ Binskin said.