Nato offers resources in fight against Isis

Nato, the world’s largest military alliance, is preparing to add its weight to the international campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known as Isis, after discussions with senior Iraqi government officials in recent weeks.

Nato has made it clear to the Iraqi government that it is ready to commit resources to the fight against Isis if a formal request for assistance is made by Haider Al-Abadi, the country’s prime minister.

Any formal request for assistance from Nato would be “pushing at an open door,” said one senior figure from the alliance, who added that Nato officials had discussed in detail how a request might be formulated. “We have been expecting that a letter from Abadi will arrive any day now,” he added.

Falih Al-Fayadh, Iraq’s national security adviser, met senior Nato officials at the alliance’s Brussels headquarters last week, where he also briefed its governing body, the North Atlantic Council.

Nato support for Baghdad would almost certainly take the form of a revival of the alliance’s former training mission for the Iraqi armed forces, which was wound up in 2011. The initial effort could mean up to 300 Nato troops deployed to train Iraqi commanders, according to one Nato official, with Jordan discussed as a possible location for such an operation.

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Unlike existing training missions being run by the US and its allies, a Nato contribution would focus on strategy and command and control issues, rather than on use of weaponry and battlefield tactics.

Jens Stoltenberg, Nato secretary-general, on Monday said: “We are standing ready to provide help, assistance to the government of Iraq to help enhance, strengthen their defence capacity.

“If there is such a request, we will consider how we could help . . . [There has been] no request so far, but if it comes, we will look into conducting defence capacity building in Iraq.”

Foreign ministers from the alliance’s 28 member states will attend a scheduled meeting at Nato headquarters on Tuesday to discuss matters affecting the alliance, including the implementation of measures adopted at Nato’s September summit in Wales.

Interactive map

Isis advances through Iraq and Syria

Chart the progress of the jihadi militants as they attempt to gain more ground

Though Iraq will not be on the agenda, ministers will reconvene at the same location the following day to discuss specifically the fight against Isis in a separate session chaired by John Kerry, US secretary of state.

Nato officials, including Mr Stoltenberg, will attend that discussion as observers. The alliance stressed that holding the event at its Brussels base was simply a matter of convenience.

Until recently, Nato had been careful to downplay any potential for its involvement in the conflict in Iraq and Syria.

But as the focus of the international campaign against Isis has shifted from the air to the ground, demand has grown for far greater support for Iraq’s still-weak and poorly led national security forces.

In the latest scandal to hit Iraq’s military, Mr Abadi told the Iraqi parliament on Sunday that 50,000 soldiers officially listed on the army’s roll call did not actually exist, and had been invented as a cover for fraudulent activities.