The Ministry of Defence has said a "small specialist team" of UK soldiers are in Iraq and working near the front line of the fight between the Islamic State (IS) and Kurdish fighters.
Based near the Kurdish capital of Irbil in the north, they are training peshmerga forces in the use of heavy machine guns the UK supplied to them in September.
The Sunday Times reported that the soldiers were from the 2nd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment, which is based in Cyprus.
An MoD spokeswoman said: "The Government has previously made clear its intention to provide training to the peshmerga as part of the continued effort to assist in the fight against Isil (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."
British troops invaded Iraq in March 2003 to overthrow Saddam Hussein.
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Gallery: The Moment RAF Jet Attacks IS Truck
The RAF carried out its first airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq on 1 October, 2014 (All pictures: MoD)
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Tornados destroyed a heavy weapon position, which was attacking Kurdish forces, and an armed pick-up truck (pictured). The red circle shows the path of the missile fired at the vehicle
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The strikes were the first since MPs voted to support aerial raids in Iraq last Friday
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The targets were in the northwest of Iraq
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The moment the truck, which had a mounted machine gun, was destroyed by a Brimstone missile
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A plume of smoke rose above the area
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The strike was successful, according to an initial assessment, said Defence Secretary Michael Fallon
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The Tornados safely returned to their base at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus after the sortie
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Six of the GR4 fighter jets are based on the island in the Mediterranean
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The aircraft began their combat missions on Saturday
The last British combat troops from the war left in April 2009, with a small number staying on to train Iraqi forces until 2011.
RAF Tornado fighter jets have been involved in US-led bombing raids on IS fighters for the past two weeks.
But there is strong resistance among British politicians to any ground troop involvement in fighting against the Islamist group, which controls vast areas of Iraq and Syria.
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