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| President Obama to boost army trainers in Iraq | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The US is to send up to 450 military trainers to Iraq to help "train and advise" local forces fighting Islamic State, the White House says. | |
| President Obama made the decision following a request from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi, it said. | |
| The troops will be deployed to the Taqaddum military base in Anbar province. IS seized Ramadi - the capital of Anbar - in May. | |
| It has made gains across the region despite US-led coalition air strikes. | |
| The move is aimed at enabling more Iraqis - mostly Sunni tribal volunteers - to integrate into the Iraq army and fight against Islamic State. | |
| "These new advisers will work to build capacity of Iraqi forces, including local tribal fighters, to improve their ability to plan, lead, and conduct operations" against IS in Anbar, the White House statement added. | |
| Islamic State took control of Iraq's second city Mosul a year ago. It has also captured the Syrian town of Tadmur and the neighbouring ancient ruins of Palmyra. | |
| The deployment of military advisers to Taqaddum brings the number of US training camps in Iraq to five. | |
| Some 9,000 Iraqi troops have already been trained at Al-Asad, Besmaya, Erbil, and Taji, the White House said. | |
| President Obama continues to resist demands for combat troops. | |
| 'Not enough' | |
| The plan to send more military advisors follows months of behind-the-scenes debate within the White House on how to retake Mosul and Ramadi, the New York Times reports. | |
| US officials believe a major factor in the fall of Ramadi was a lack of training of Iraqi forces. | |
| However, former Iraqi national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, told the BBC the move was not enough. | |
| "This is too little too late. I call for the American administration to get their act together." he added. | |
| "They don't have any unified strategy. We don't understand their policy in Iraq and in Syria, in the region. They are giving conflicting signs." | |
| There are currently around 3,000 US military personnel, including trainers and advisers, in Iraq. | |
| The United Kingdom said earlier this week it will send an extra 125 troops, taking the number of UK personnel training Iraqi security forces to 275. |