A training day for Peshmerga Kurdish fighters.

Weighed down by a giant protective suit, a Kurdish fighter cautiously approaches a pick-up truck to defuse the bomb.

It's part of a month-long course for Kurdish forces, who are being trained to detect and defuse explosives on the battlefield in the fight against Islamic State militants.

(SOUNDBITE) (Kurdish) PESHMERGA FIGHTER, PESHWAR SALEH TAHA, SAYING:

"The the trainers are experienced and we have benefited a lot from their lessons. The war we are waging against IS is all about bombs and IEDs. It's very important we learn how to deal with them so we can clear the way for the peshmerga to advance."

Haunted by the legacy of the Iraq war and wary of being sucked into the conflict, Britain and other Western countries have ruled out sending troops again. Instead, they are using air power while providing arms and training to forces on the ground -- in this case with the help of company Explosives Risk Management