Australia was expected to confirm Tuesday an increase in troops to be sent to Iraq to help train Iraqi security forces to fight the Islamic State group.
The Cabinet had on Monday night approved the deployment as part of a joint Australia-New Zealand training mission foreshadowed by the New Zealand government last week, media reported on Tuesday.
The joint mission will number around 400 troops, including 143 New Zealand personnel already announced by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, Fairfax Media and Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop refused to confirm the Cabinet’s decision, but said Prime Minister Tony Abbott would be making an announcement on the deployment later Tuesday.
“I’m not going to pre-empt any announcement about that,” she told reporters.
“But I’m sure you’ll be hearing more from the prime minister on that issue today,” she added.
Australia already has 200 special forces troops in Baghdad advising and assisting Iraqi security forces. No Australian troops are to operate in independent combat roles.
Another 400 Australian air force personnel are supporting Australian air strikes against Islamic State targets in northern Iraq from the al-Minhad Air Base outside Dubai.
Key said last week up to 106 New Zealand troops would be deployed to the Taji base about 22 kilometers (14 miles) north of Baghdad, while others would be sent to the coalition headquarters or other facilities in the region.
Australia Expected to Announce More Troops Bound for Iraq
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