{"id":20130,"date":"2015-05-01T15:06:24","date_gmt":"2015-05-01T05:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=20130"},"modified":"2015-05-01T15:06:24","modified_gmt":"2015-05-01T05:06:24","slug":"middle-east-operations-building-capacity-in-iraq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/middle-east-operations-building-capacity-in-iraq\/","title":{"rendered":"Middle East operations: building capacity in Iraq"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a>Security across the Middle East region is of increasing concern, with the Houthi insurgency destabilising Yemen and drawing airstrikes from Saudi Arabia and nine Arab allies, and the Da\u2019esh franchise spreading its propaganda and its brutal philosophy to North Africa and Afghanistan. The beheading of 30 Ethiopian Christians in Libya, the death of 33 civilians in Jalalabad, Afghanistan in a bombing claimed to be by Da\u2019esh, and the arrests in Melbourne and London of young men attracted to their savage cause highlights why our support to the coalition\u2019s mission in the Middle East is so pressing.<\/p>\n

In Iraq, the assessment for April is that Iraqi and Kurdish Security Forces have made territorial gains while Da\u2019esh continues to rely on asymmetric tactics. CENTCOM has produced a map<\/a> that provides analysis of the territory held by Da\u2019esh and since reclaimed by Iraqi Security Forces. There have also been set-backs but the synopsis is that Iraqi ground forces have reclaimed more territory and inflicted more losses on Da\u2019esh than have been suffered. The momentum, while limited in some areas, favours the Iraqi Security Forces.<\/p>\n

The Australian government has recently approved the deployment of the Building Partner Capacity (BPC) mission comprised of approximately 300 Australian Army personnel which will operate in partnership with 110 New Zealand Defence Force personnel. The deployment of the advance party has commenced and the collective force will be called \u2018Task Group Taji\u2019. The mission is a non-combat, \u2018behind-the-wire\u2019, training task within the Taji Military Complex, northwest of Baghdad.<\/p>\n

Our training of Iraqi Security Forces will allow us to provide skills and competencies to their forces that will complement other coalition enablers such as air-strike, airborne intelligence-surveillance and reconnaissance, and partnership at the headquarters level. This will help the Iraqi ground forces to counter Da\u2019esh attacks and roll back their hold on Iraqi sovereign-territory.<\/p>\n

There are five Building Partner Capacity sites: al-Asad in Anbar province, Erbil in Erbil province, Baghdad, Taji north of Baghdad and Besmayah west of Baghdad where Iraqi Security Forces and Kurdish Security Forces are being trained for four-to six-week periods of instruction to prepare them for operations against Da\u2019esh. The BPC mission will continue to build Iraq’s military capabilities encompassing the development of individual junior non-commissioned officer and officer through to collective training at the brigade headquarters level in order to:<\/p>\n