THE commander of the Australian and New Zealand task force training Iraqi security forces at a base just north of Baghdad says the soldiers are anxious to refine urban warfare techniques for the coming battle of Mosul.

Task Group Taji Commander, Colonel Gavin Keating, said many of the soldiers they were training were from Mosul, in northern Iraq, which the Islamic State has held since mid-2014.

Colonel Keating said the Iraqi forces, most of whom had combat experience, were receiving additional training to counter improvised explosive devices, improve their live fire skills and to refine vehicle manoeuvres.

“The liberation of Mosul will involve a lot of urban fighting,” said Colonel Keating, who said the anticipated battle was a continuous talking point among the Iraqi troops.

“They do talk about it,” he said. “A number of units are drawn from Mosul. Those people in particular are very focused on liberating their homes and, in some cases, their families.

“In Taji, there is a bit of a mantra that, ‘Mosul, we’re coming’.”

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No public deadline has been given for the assault on Mosul, which is ISIL’s strongest centre in Iraq but has in recent weeks been isolated due to sustained Coalition aerial attacks.

However, there has been an increasing number of reports of fighting and air strikes in and around the key northern city, Iraq’s second largest.

It is expected that Mosul will be riddled with IEDs and snipers so the training has “a direct relevance to keeping them alive, and helping them look after their mates,” Colonel Keating said.

Earlier this week, the twice-captured British photographer, John Cantlie, was seen in the latest of his series of propaganda videos, in which he claimed Coalition air strikes were harming innocent people in Mosul.

It is not known if Cantlie, who has appeared in a number of pro-ISIL videos and gives presentations as though he is news reporter on the scene, has turned to ISIL or is filing his reports under threat of death.

Colonel Keating said after 11 months, 300 Australian and New Zealand forces had put 4500 Iraqis through training. The government has made an initial commitment to the training task force of two years and will review that in a few months.

“The initial aim is to train enough army combat troops to retake Mosul,” he said.

“What we find is good solid training gives them confidence in their own ability that they can defeat Daesh. It is ruthless but it can be beaten.

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“Recent successes have given them renewed confidence. The general feeling is they (Daesh) are being pushed back and on the defence.”

Some of the soldiers who have been through the training centre have been involved in recent battles in Ramadi or are positioning just south of Mosul, awaiting orders for battle.