By NNN-KUNA
Baghdad : Iraq has substantially increased the number of its security and military forces as part of preparations for slashing the presence of foreign troops serving throughout the country.
Official government spokesman Ali Al-Dabbagh said in a statement on Wednesday the number of the personnel under command of the Iraqi Defence Ministry increased to 250,000, and those serving under the Interior Ministry rose to 450,000, in addition to the units in charge of protecting installations.
The spokesman put the number of newly-registered personnel at 46,000 for service in the army, back-up units, the Air Force and the Special Force.
The number of these enlisted in the police reached 40,000 and this enabled the authorities to increase weekly missions to 1,000 and hike number of patrols by 270 per cent.
The Ministries of Defence and Interior purchased USD 2.819 million worth of weapons and ordnance in 2006 and 2007.