The Chief of the Defence Force, Lieutenant General Tim Keating, says New Zealand troops deployed to Iraq will have force protection for self defence and and all forces will be armed.
Lieutenant General Keating briefed media on some aspects of the deployment soon after Prime Minister John Key announced it would go ahead.
Lieutenant General Keating said any deployment such as this carried risks, so force protection would be sent with the trainers, able to respond in self-defence. He said safety would be paramount and all of those on the ground would carry arms.
While no status of forces agreement had been resolved, he said there were other ways to ensure legal protections for the troops. All of those on the ground in Iraq would be armed.
New Zealand troops are preparing for a two-year tour in Iraq to help the fight against Islamic State. This is what they are up against
What is Islamic State?
Islamic State (Isis) is a radical group that has seized large swathes of territory in eastern Syria and across northern and western Iraq. Its brutal tactics, including mass killings and the beheadings of soldiers and journalists, have sparked fear and outrage across the world and prompted United States-led military intervention.
What does Isis want? The group aims to establish a caliphate, a state ruled by a single political and religious leader according to Sharia law, a legal system based on Islam. Although currently limited to Iraq and Syria, Isis has promised to "break the borders" of Jordan and Lebanon and to "free Palestine".
Prime Minister John Key has made the decision - without a parliamentary vote - to send members of our Defence Force to the area. His argument is New Zealand has a moral obligation to stand up for what is right. The two-year mission, due to begin in May, will be reviewed by Cabinet after nine months.
What will our troops be doing?
Based at Camp Taji, 30km north of Baghdad, the New Zealand personnel will help train Iraqi fighters. They will be armed and able to defend themselves but will not go into combat. They will also instruct Iraqis in tactical planning but will not devise actual operations.
How much territory does Isis control?
Estimates vary from about 40,000sq km of Iraq and Syria to 90,000sq km. That territory includes cities - Mosul, Tikrit, Falluja and Tal Afar in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria - oil fields, dams, main roads and border crossings. Eight million people are believed to be living under partial or full Isis control.
How many fighters does Isis have?
United States officials believe Isis could have as many as 31,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria though other estimates go as high as 200,000.
What weapons do they have?
A wide variety of small arms and heavy weapons, including truck-mounted machine-guns, rocket launchers, anti-aircraft guns and portable surface-to-air missile systems. They have also captured tanks and armoured vehicles from the Syrian and Iraqi armies, including Humvees and bomb-proof trucks originally manufactured for the American military. The group is believed to have a flexible supply chain that ensures a constant stream of ammunition and small arms for its fighters.
Where does Isis get its money from?
Initially, much of its financial support came from individuals in Arab Gulf states. Today, Isis is largely self-financed, earning millions of dollars a month from oil and gas fields it controls, as well as from taxation, tolls, smuggling, extortion and kidnapping. The offensive in Iraq has also been lucrative, giving it access to cash held in major banks in cities and towns it has seized.
Islamic State group militants hold up their flag as they patrol in a commandeered Iraqi military vehicle. Photo / AP
Isis members are jihadists who adhere to an extreme interpretation of Sunni Islam and consider themselves the only true believers. They hold that the rest of the world is made up of unbelievers who seek to destroy Islam, justifying attacks against other Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Beheadings, crucifixions and mass shootings have been used to terrorise their enemies. Isis members have justified such atrocities by citing the Koranic verses that talk of "striking off the heads" of unbelievers, but many Muslims have denounced them.
Timeline: Rise of an enemy
2004: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi establishes al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).
June 7, 2006: Al-Zarqawi is killed in a US strike. Abu Ayyub al-Masri takes his place as leader of AQI.
October: Al-Masri announces the creation of Islamic State in Iraq (ISI), and establishes Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, right, as its leader.
April 8, 2013: ISI declares its absorption of an al-Qaeda-backed militant group in Syria known as the al-Nusra Front. Al-Baghdadi says his group will now be known as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis).
February 3, 2014: Al-Qaeda renounces ties to Isis after months of infighting between al-Nusra Front and Isis.
A Yazidi fighter guards the Sharaf al-Deen temple from Islamic State forces. Photo / AP
June 9: Militants seize Mosul's airport, its TV stations and the governor's office. Isis frees up to 1000 prisoners.
June 10-21: Isis takes control of Mosul, Tikrit and three other Iraqi towns as well as Al-Qaim on the border with Syria.
June 29: Isis announces a caliphate (Islamic state) that erases all state borders and declares al-Baghdadi the authority over the world's estimated 1.5 billion Muslims.
June 30: The United Nations announces an estimated 1.2 million Iraqis have been forced from their homes.
October 3: Isis releases a video showing the apparent beheading of hostage Alan Henning. It blames the killing on the United Kingdom for joining the US-led bombing campaign.
November 3: The Iraqi Government announces Isis militants have executed 322 members of the Albu Nimr tribe.
November 14: The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria concludes Isis has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.
November 16: Isis militants claim to have beheaded American hostage Peter Kassig, seen in an online video.
January 20, 2015: Isis demands US$200 million ($265m) from Japan in exchange for the lives of Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa. Goto had written books on Aids and reported from war zones. Yukawa was said to have been in private security.Both are executed within days.
February 5: Jordanian fighter jets carry out airstrikes over Syria in retaliation for the murder of hostage Moath al-Kasasbeh.
February 11: US President Barack Obama asks Congress to formally authorise use of military force against Isis.
February 15: In a new propaganda video released by Isis, the group appears to behead 21 Egyptian Christians on a Libyan beach. Egyptian warplanes respond with wairstrikes against Isis targets in Libya.
February 24: John Key announces 143 New Zealand troops are going to Iraq.
February 27: Isis executioner known as "Jihadi John" is named as Mohammed Emwazi, a university graduate from London who was able to flee to Syria despite being on an MI5 terror watch list.
Japanese hostages Kenji Goto Jogo, left, and Haruna Yukawa, right. Photo / AP
The 26-year-old, who studied computer programming at the University of Westminster, is said to have travelled to the Middle East three years ago and later joined Isis.
Jihadi John has featured in the execution videos of British aid workers Alan Henning and David Haines, US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, Japanese reporter Kenji Goto and Syrian soldiers.
