Allies to send 1,500 security personnel to Iraq: US general

Kuwait City: Members of a US-led coalition are ready to send roughly 1,500 security personnel to Iraq to help the Baghdad government in its fight against Islamic State group, the American commander of the war effort said Monday.

Coalition partners meeting last week in the region made initial pledges that would bring "close" to 1,500 troops to Iraq to train and assist local forces, in addition to the US forces already mobilised, Lieutenant General James Terry told reporters in Kuwait.

He did not indicate which countries from the coalition would provide the security personnel or give a breakdown of how many of them would be in uniform or otherwise.