WELLINGTON, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand and Australian troops have trained their first group of Iraqi police officers at their joint training base in Iraq, the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) said Tuesday.
About 1,900 members of the Iraqi Federal Police had completed five weeks of basic combat training at Camp Taji, north of Baghdad, bringing to more than 20,000 the total number of Iraqi security forces trained by the joint training task group.
The graduates comprised the first batch of police trained by Task Group Taji in the fight against Islamic State (Daesh) insurgents.
"This is not just a training milestone," Major General Tim Gall, the Commander Joint Forces New Zealand, said in a statement.
"The latest batch of trainees to march out now form part of stabilization forces who are working to ensure that the gains made against Daesh -- in Ramadi, Fallujah, east Mosul and other parts of Iraq -- are sustained," said Gall.
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