Thirteen Iraqi battalions can operate alone

Thirteen of the 112 Iraqi army battalions are capable of battling insurgents without U.S. or British help, a British minister said last week.

These battalions were capable of "planning, executing and sustaining counter-insurgency operations" on their own, Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram said in a written reply to a question from a British legislator.

An Iraqi army battalion has roughly 500 soldiers. A further 78 battalions required "only minimal support" in areas such as planning or logistics, he said.

"The remainder operate in conjunction with coalition units or are undergoing earlier stages of formation and basic training," he said. A year ago, only one Iraqi battalion was capable of operating independently of coalition forces while 13 could operate with minimal support, Ingram said.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, speaking in Copenhagen earlier, said British troops would stay in Iraq in significant numbers even if a planned handover of security responsibilities to Iraqi forces in the south was successful next year.

Britain has around 7,200 troops in southern Iraq, mostly stationed in and around Basra, the country's second largest city.

Britain has said it is confident it can hand over responsibility in Basra to the Iraqis early next year and hopes to have brought thousands of troops home by the end of 2007. Britain has already handed over control in two of the four southern provinces it took responsibility for after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. One more, Maysan, is due to meet the conditions for handover in January.

-Reuters