Veteran diplomat Carl Worker has been appointed the role which was created late last year after NZ confirmed plans to send troops to Iraq.

John Key said he left Iraq feeling reassured that the troops he deployed six months ago are in a safe place and were making a difference.

Whatever Paradise was, it will not be opening any time soon in the Taji Military Camp.

Any pretence that Russia's heightened involvement in Syria's messy civil war would focus on destroying the Islamic State has evaporated very quickly.

John Key has just visited the NZ troops at Taji Military Camp - a dramatic two days in a place he has described as a "god-damn awful place."

Prime Minister John Key says he has no intention of extending NZ's two year deployment to Iraq despite Barack Obama telling coalition partners it will be a long-term battle.

Prime Minister John Key will attend President Obama's summit on countering Isis early tomorrow morning New Zealand time.

More than 100,000 people attended an "anti-terrorism" rally in Istanbul yesterday to back President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's controversial offensive against Kurdish rebels, six weeks before....

German troops involved in a coalition training mission in Iraq have reported that Isis (Islamic State) fighters have used chemical weapons on a Kurdish militia.

Iraqi soldiers have graduated from the New Zealand and Australian Defence Force training at Taji Military Camp to join the fight against Isis.

The spending represents 13 per cent of global GDP and is roughly the combined value of the economies of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Spain and Brazil.

Prime Minister John Key has ruled out any extension to New Zealand’s training mission to Iraq in duration or numbers.

President Barack Obama's announcement yesterday that he is sending 450 more military advisers to Iraq highlights the central dilemma of his faltering strategy there.

President Barack Obama has admitted that American forces still "don't have a complete strategy" for training Iraqi troops to stand their ground against Isis (Islamic State) fighters.

Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee has just paid a secret trip to visit

Despite denials by Prime Minister John Key, there are growing signs that advances by Isis fighters will raise the risks facing Kiwi troops in Iraq, writes Robert G. Patman.

Five Sydney children trying to return from Syria have every chance of being reintegrated into Australian society, an expert says.

NZ First MP Ron Mark has labelled the Iraqi Army "cowards" and questioned why New Zealand forces were being put at risk trying to train an army that did not want to fight.

The uneasy international alliance against Isis (Islamic State) descended into acrimony yesterday as allies traded accusations over what led to the fall of Ramadi.

NZ's contingent of military training specialists have barely arrived and the folly of this military (mis)adventure is already becoming apparent, writes Armstrong.

US Defence Secretary Carter warned that Iraqi troops would not be able to defeat Isis until they developed a "will to fight", reflecting surprise after the collapse in Ramadi.

The Defence Force says New Zealand soldiers have settled into their base in Taji, Iraq, and have started training local troops to fight the so-called Islamic State.

Shia militia groups have converged on the Iraqi city of Ramadi to help wrest it back from Isis (Islamic State) fighters, who seized it in a three-day blitz.

Prime Minister John Key said the Islamic State’s advance was not a “trigger point” for reviewing New Zealand’s non-combat deployment.

New Zealand soldiers have arrived at Camp Taji in Iraq to begin their deployment, the Defence Force has confirmed.

A strong majority of New Zealanders support the Government's decision to deploy 143 troops to Iraq to train the Iraqi Army in its fight against Islamic State.