A HOMECOMING Parade for soldiers from 1st Battalion The Rifles took place yesterday at Beachley Barracks, Chepstow.

1 Rifles has been deployed on Operation Shader, the UK's involvement in support of counter Da’esh operations in Iraq, since August 2015.

The deployment was completed this January after a total commitment of 18 months. Their role has been training the Iraqi and Kurdish security forces to fight and defeat Da'esh.

The main role of the UK training teams was to train the Kurdish Peshmerga and the Iraqi Army in infantry tactics, bomb disposal, field engineering and first aid.

Over the 18-months deployment in Iraq, the 1 Rifles battlegroup trained more than 30,000 Iraqi Army and Kurdish Peshmerga who were able to recapture ground, leading to the on-going assault on Mosul.

Training is also in place for those forces who will secure Iraq in the longer term.

An Army spokesman said: "By the end of the 18-month commitment, 1 Rifles will have deployed in its entirety, with some soldiers deploying twice.

"The battlegroup will have managed and deployed more than 800 troops from across the Army and trained tens of thousands of Kurdish Peshmerga and Iraqi Army Soldiers to counter Da’esh.

"Not only will this help defeat Da’esh in Iraq, but it will also contribute to securing Britain from this threat in the future."