BRITAIN is set to send extra troops to support Iraqi ground forces in the fight against Islamic State (IS), Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, has indicated.
Fresh ammunition stocks would also be given to the Kurdish Peshmerga, said the cabinet minister, ahead of a meeting of international counterparts in Germany on Wednesday.
The move comes after fighters complained they had been left without bullets for the machine guns given to them by the UK for many months.
Mr Fallon insisted Iraqi forces now had IS, also known as Daesh, on the "back foot" and the jihadi organisation was losing territory.
The UK Government was, he explained, ready to offer fresh support, which was likely to mean extra troops to "intensify" the operations, although no specific number was mentioned.
"Make no mistake,” declared the Secretary of State, “Iraqi forces have Daesh on the back foot and are retaking territory, hitting its finances and striking its leadership.
"Now is the time to build on recent success and we are looking hard at what more we can offer as Iraqi combat operations intensify."
Coalition air strikes have helped reduce Islamic State forces in Syria and Iraq to their lowest levels for two years.
Around 600 fighters with the terror group have been killed over the past month, bringing the total deaths to around 25,000, said Downing Street.
IS has suffered major setbacks over the past months in Syria at the hands of government forces and US-backed Kurdish fighters including the loss of the historic city of Palmyra.
The self-declared caliphate has also suffered financially from coalition strikes on the oil facilities which provide much of its income and has lost territory in Iraq to the forces of the Baghdad government.
David Cameron's spokeswoman said: "We have now seen more than 25,000 Daesh fighters killed, over 600 in the last month or so. The number of Daesh fighters is estimated to be at its lowest for about two years.
"We are playing a vital role in terms of the coalition air strikes, we are the second largest contributor behind the US. We've seen the Iraqi forces managing to clear Daesh out of the town of Hit in recent weeks.
"We are working with Kurdish and other partners liberating key areas of Syria and also managing to cut off the main route between Raqqa and Mosul," she added.
RAF jets began air strikes against IS in Iraq in September 2014 and the mission was extended to Syria in December 2015.
Mr Fallon is to travel to Stuttgart to meet US Secretary of Defence Ash Carter as well as counterparts Jean-Yves Le Drian and Ursula von der Leyen from France and Germany, and representatives from Australia, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark and Spain.
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