Britain has deployed SAS special forces in northern Iraq where thousands of civilians are trapped on a mountain by Sunni militant fighters, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on Thursday.

Citing Britain's trade envoy to Iraq, Emma Nicholson, the paper said that officers from the Special Air Service (SAS), the army's special forces regiment, were working with U.S. troops to gather intelligence and had been in Iraq for about six weeks.



When asked about the newspaper report, a spokesman for Britain's Ministry of Defence said it did not comment on special forces operations.