Britain says will send more army trainers to Iraq to help fight Islamic State

British soldiers train Kurdish Peshmerga fighters on how to use a heavy machine gun in Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq October 13, 2014. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Britain will boost the number of its army trainers in Iraq in the coming weeks to support the Iraqi armed forces' battle against Islamic State militants, the British defence secretary said on a visit to Baghdad on Wednesday.

Britain said last month it had deployed a team of trainers to Iraq to help Kurdish peshmerga fighters maintain and use heavy machineguns against the radical militants who have taken over much of Iraq and Syria in a ruthless military onslaught.