Several new countries have agreed to help train security forces in Iraq and Syria fighting the Islamic State jihadist group, Italy's foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Tuesday.
"Italy has requested and in part obtained a contribution from new countries in the training of forces engaged in fighting IS on the ground in Iraq and in Syria," Gentiloni said, without elaborating.
He was addressing a press conference in Rome with United States secretary of state John Kerry after a one-day meeting of the US-led international coalition against IS.
Italy until now has concentrated its efforts on training Kurdish Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq. Italian paramilitary Carabinieri police have been leading the training of the Peshmerga fighters, he said.
"We have trained 2,000 and they are highly active against Daesh," Gentiloni stated, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
Opening the Rome summit, Kerry earlier on Tuesday praised what he called the "crucial" role being played by Italy's Carabinieri police in Iraq.
The US and Italy are among 23 countries taking part in the coalition against IS.
The US has asked coalition members to boost their military contributions in Iraq and Syria against IS after the deadly attacks in Paris in November that killed 130 people.
