Islamic State has made a resurgence in western Iraq and parts of eastern Mosul

ISLAMIC State has made a resurgence in western Iraq and parts of eastern Mosul prompting an appeal for more help from Australia to fight the terror group.

EXCLUSIVE

Islamic State has made a resurgence in western Iraq and in parts of eastern Mosul prompting an Iraqi appeal to Australia to extend its military training now to “energy police” to protect the country’s assets including its oil rich fields.

The move comes as there’s confirmation ISIS has mastered the ability to convert off-the-shelf drones into guided missiles, dropping explosive-laden remote controlled aircraft onto Iraqi forces on the frontline.

There have been multiple injuries reported in the past 48 hours from reportedly up to 40 drones but no deaths, although the strikes have slowed the advance of Iraqi troops.

While ISIS is nearing defeat in its self-declared Iraqi capital of Mosul, it has begun to resurge along the Euphrates River west of capital Baghdad as well as in eastern Mosul which was retaken by the Iraqis last year.

Islamic State has made a resurgence in western Iraq and in parts of eastern Mosul. Picture: Balkis Press/Sipa USA

The resurgence is also being seen in Anbar’s provincial capital Ramadi where security forces are rushing to build a 45-kilometre long wall made up of trenches and berms to stop ISIS re-entering the city.

News Corp Australia has learned the development has prompted a repositioning and expansion of the Australian military’s training regime of Iraqi security forces for the frontline assault on ISIS to now include paramilitary training of two different tranches of police, including recruits as young as 17.

Australian soldiers from Task Group Taji north of Baghdad have now been asked to train what’s known as Energy Police to protect the country’s vital assets notably oilfields, electricity infrastructure and domestic supply lines. This is on top of their commitment to train police in paramilitary tactics and urban warfare to help protect towns and villages liberated from ISIS, particularly in the Nineveh province of Mosul and training of Iraqi soldiers for the frontline fight.

Australian soldiers from Task Group Taji train Iraqi police. Picture Gary Ramage

Lieutenant Colonel Chris Gardiner, commanding officer of the Taji training group, confirmed the training program has moved beyond just soldiers to general police and energy police to give them military skill sets essential to put down “sleeper cells” of ISIS militants in Iraq and protect the country’s fragile economy.

He said the ISIS resurgence was aimed at “distracting” and drawing Iraqi security forces away from frontline battlefields like west Mosul.

“At this stage we are seeing pockets of disturbances arise in Baghdad and Al-Anbar where those distractions and security elements in those areas are trying to have an effect of retaining (Iraqi) combat elements to provide security rather than if it was completely clear and freeing them up to places like west Mosul,” he said as he watched police recruits at Taji go through their drills under Australian Defence Force personnel instruction.

Australian soldiers from Task Group Taji provide training in paramilitary skills to Iraqi energy police. Picture Gary Ramage

“I think it is a predictable tactic … security dilemmas poised about the country to try and distract security forces.”

He said the threat had prompted a formal Iraqi request for Australia soldiers at Taji Military Complex to now train 300 experienced energy police drawn from all over Iraq including Baghdad, Basra and Kirkuk for a new 4-week paramilitary course.

“We are teaching them to understand what is an asset, how to provide a defensive structure around that, security operations and we also teach them how to do convoy escort … counter ambush, counter improvised explosive device and the actual planning for vehicle escort tasks,” he said of the training that began this week.

He added: “It all fits under the Iraqi security force infrastructure, the (energy police) are an approved training audience by the Iraqi Government … to secure and hold key infrastructure within Iraq, which contributes to their national economy and supports other elements of Iraq’s stability.”

Smoke rises from Mosul. Picture: AFP