Iraq has signed a contract to buy its second set of 18 US-made F-16 fighters, part of an initial agreement to purchase 36 of the jets to rebuild its air force, Iraq's acting defence minister said on Thursday.

Baghdad signed an initial deal for 18 jets in September last year valued at roughly $3 billion and those aircraft are scheduled to be delivered by September 2014. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki later said Iraq would buy double that number.-Reuters