Australian troops move into Iraq to assist with fight against Islamic State

Australia sent a contingent of about 200 special forces to the defence base in the UAE in September, but they have been waiting there for a formal direction from the Iraqi government.

The troops have begun moving into the strife-torn country in the past week and will initially be placed in Baghdad in an "advise and assist" role.

US president Barack Obama said yesterday he is in talks with Australia and other coalition partners about how they can "supplement" their commitments.

Assistant Defence Minister Stuart Robert said no decision has been made about sending more troops and would not be made until the success of the current commitment could be gauged.

"The Prime Minister has not announced that and the Prime Minister has not made any statements to that effect - nor should we make any commitments further until we've actually bedded down what we're putting into theatre right now," he told NewsRadio.

"Our forces have now spent a number of days moving into locations. It will take more days to actually become effective in the advising and assisting.

"It will take weeks if not months for that training force to really come into effect.

"So let's see what effect we can have on our ground before we jump further."

Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who is in Beijing for the APEC summit, said yesterday that Australia continues to talk with its partners about fighting the terrorist group

source: abc