United Kingdom ready to send troops in Iraq to help Iraqi security forces fight Islamic State 051114.

More British training teams could be sent to the semi-autonomous Kurdish north of the country. An announcement is expected in the coming days.

Britain and its allies are coming under increasing pressure to do more to help Haider al-Abadi, the new Iraqi prime minister, as his security forces struggle to reclaim territory in the north and west of the country that fell to Islamic State earlier in the year.

The Iraqi army, which collapsed in the face of Isis advances in the summer, requires retraining. A Pentagon assessment found that at least half of all military units were incompetent. The United States has already agreed to send about 500 soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division to Iraq and elsewhere in the region.

Britain, with an approaching general election, has been slower to commit to offering training teams and advisers who may be required to operate on the ground alongside Iraqi troops.

David Cameron has previously insisted the government will not be sending “ground troops” back into Iraq. However, it is accepted that some presence is needed to support Iraq’s military and to ensure that Britain has influence in Baghdad — something that was lost when UK forces pulled out of southern Iraq after the 2003 invasion.