A "small specialist team" of 12 UK soldiers are training Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq, the Ministry of Defence has said.
It said troops from the Yorkshire Regiment are training Iraqi Kurds to use UK-supplied heavy machine guns.
The UK has already sent supplies, including weapons, to northern Iraq to help Kurdish Peshmerga forces.
Royal Air Force Tornado jets based in Cyprus have been flying combat missions over Iraq since September.
The UK training mission comes amid heavy fighting between Syrian Kurds and IS forces in the town of Kobane, in Syria.
Last month, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced it was supplying Kurdish forces, known as the Peshmerga, with 40 heavy machine guns, as well as thousands of rounds of ammunition.
The RAF has also transported military equipment and ammunition to northern Iraq on behalf of other countries, while providing equipment such as body armour, helmets and ration packs.
'Non-combat army trainers'
Confirming the deployment, an MoD spokesman said the government had previously made clear its intention to provide training to the Peshmerga as part of a "continued effort" to assist the fight against IS.
"The defence secretary has approved the deployment of a small specialist team of non-combat Army trainers, which is now in the Irbil area providing instruction on operating, employing and maintaining the heavy machine guns that were gifted by the UK last month," the spokesman added.
The last UK combat troops left Iraq in April 2009, with a small number staying on to train Iraqi forces until 2011.
Smoke rising over Kobane Civilians watched fighting in Kobane from across the nearby Turkish border
BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale said the team of 12 UK soldiers, from 2nd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment, is expected to spend a week in Irbil, in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq.
"The MoD insists the soldiers will not be in a combat role - they're few in number and will be on the ground for just a week," our correspondent said.
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