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A dozen British soldiers are to be sent to Saudi Arabia within months to train moderate Syrian forces.

The deployment, as part of a US-led training mission, will increase the UK’s involvement in the battle against Islamist fanatics in Syria and Iraq.

Britain is already beefing up its training force in Iraq to 275, including teams of bomb disposal experts. They will be based mainly in the Kurdish capital Irbil and in Baghdad.

Ministry of Defence sources played down a report that there are plans for hundreds of UK combat troops to be sent to Saudi Arabia to train Syrian Free Army fighters as part of the campaign against Islamic State.

But some MPs are likely to be concerned about “mission creep” from the commitments already announced.

Last week it emerged British pilots embedded with the US military have taken part in bombing missions against IS in Syria, despite Parliament voting against UK forces intervening there. Ministers said the pilots were operating as part of other Allied forces.

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond was this afternoon facing questions from MPs over his decision to urge Britons to leave Tunisia following last month’s beach terror attack in Sousse which left 38 people dead.

The Foreign Office advised tourists to return home, warning a further attack in the country was “highly likely”.

The Tunisian government expressed concern the guidance would have a devastating effect on the country’s tourism, while some holidaymakers asked why they were told to leave when other European nationals were not.

Crispin Blunt, Tory chairman of the foreign affairs committee, questioned the Government’s decision but Whitehall sources have defended it given intelligence about the terror threat.

@nicholascecil