NATO okays expanding alliance's training mission in Iraq: chief

Last Update: 2020-02-13 00:00:00 - Source: Baghdad Post

NATO defence ministers agreed Wednesday to expand the alliance's training mission in Iraq, responding to US President Donald Trump's demand for more action from allies in the Middle East, AFP reported.


The plan is for NATO, which runs a 500-strong mission to train Iraqi forces, to take on some personnel and training activities now run by the US-led multinational coalition against the Islamic State group.


But the details -- how many troops will switch and what they will do -- have yet to be worked out because the alliance is still waiting for the Iraqi government's formal agreement.


"Today we have made the decision in principle. We will continue to work on the details and the numbers and exactly what kind of activities," Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), said.