PRESS RELEASE | Feb. 17, 2017
Nearly 5,000 Iraqis complete Coalition training
CJTFOIR

February 17, 2017
Release # 20170217-02
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The Iraq security forces have nearly 5,000 more personal to assist as hold forces in Eastern Mosul and eventually in the fight against ISIS in Western Mosul following recent graduation ceremonies at Taji, Besmaya, Erbil, and Al Asad Air Base.

At Taji and Besmaya, nearly two thousand Ninewah policemen graduated and are poised to assist in the fight against ISIS in Mosul.

“Task Group Taji IV is proud to see them develop into an effective security force, ready to take the fight to ISIS.” said Australian Col. Richard Vagg, commander, TG Taji IV.

Australian and New Zealand Defense Force soldiers are the lead element at TG Taji IV, one of four Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command-led training locations in Iraq. Over the past month, the Coalition provided infantry-based tactics, techniques and procedures to men who will play a major role in defending, holding and stabilizing liberated areas.

In Besmaya, Spanish Coalition members led Nineveh police forces training.

“The police trainees are determined to defend their country against ISIS,” said Col. Vagg. “They’re young and determined – many of them come from Mosul where they’ve lost family members to ISIS’s campaign of terror.”

In addition, Three hundred Iraqi security forces soldiers graduated from patrol and clearing techniques training at Al Asad Air Base. The training, led by the combined efforts of Danish, British, Latvian, Estonian and American forces will ensures the Iraqi forces are operationally cable to in their efforts to defeat ISIS.

The government of Iraq, supported by the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve multi-national Coalition, launched the Mosul offensive in Oct. 2016 to liberate Iraq’s second-largest city which was taken from them in 2014.

After three months of intense fighting, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the liberation of Eastern Mosul Jan. 24. As the ISF prepare to engage in the next phase of their operation, hold forces such as the Ninewah police will be essential to provide immediate support and security, enabling the ISF to focus on the western side of the Tigris River.

Combined Joint Force Land Component Command-Operation Inherent Resolve is the ground forces command that supports the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve’s ongoing multi-national Coalition mission to defeat ISIS in Iraq.