Turkish troops in Mosul for training

ISTANBUL - Reuters

At least several hundred Turkish soldiers have been deployed to provide training in northern Iraq's Mosul region to the Peshmerga and opposition forces against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a Turkish security source told Reuters on Dec. 4.

"Turkish soldiers have reached the Mosul Bashiqa region. They are there as part of routine training exercises. One battalion has crossed into the region," the source said, declining to say exactly how many soldiers were deployed. 

The Turkish soldiers are training Iraqi troops and the members of the U.S.-led anti-ISIL coalition were aware of the deployment, he added.