Originally, the US military expressed hope that it could train sufficient Iraqi troops for an offensive to retake Mosul by spring of 2015.
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The additional troops are the latest escalation of the American military’s role in Iraq by President Barack Obama, who withdrew the last of the American soldiers from Iraq at the end of 2011.
Most of the troops will be stationed at the recently recaptured Qarayyah airfield, which is about 25 miles south of Mosul.
This was the deadliest bombing in Iraq since US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein 13 years ago. Speaking to reporters before he arrived in Baghdad, he said the air base will be one a hub from which “Iraqi Security Forces, accompanied and advised by us as needed, will complete the southern-most envelopment of Mosul”.
Iraqi officials said they will move the headquarters for the liberation of Mosul to Qarayyah and its airstrip will bring Iraqi and coalition aircraft that much closer to the city.
Carter said the troops would also help Iraqi security forces in planning to encircle and eventually retake the key city, Mosul.
The Sunni extremists, who consider Shias to be heretics, swept across northern and western Iraq in the summer of 2014, capturing large chunks of territory and plunging the country into its worst crisis since U.S. troops left at the end of 2011.
US Defence Secretary Ash Carter made the announcement on Monday during a visit to Baghdad where he met US commanders as well as Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi.
Iraqi forces, in conjunction with the U.S. Army, have been slowly pushing back against ISIS forces and recovering lost land. The Islamic State has destroyed many bridges around the city since it took control in 2014.
“I am pleased to report today that… we agreed for the United States to bolster Iraqi efforts to isolate and pressure Mosul by deploying 560 additional troops”, Carter said at the Baghdad airport following meetings with the Iraqi premier and defence minister. “Mosul is the prize”, said Col. Chris Garver, a USA military spokesman in Baghdad.
The Pentagon has announced several measures to speed up the war, including a revised mission to train anti-IS rebels in northern Syria and extra advisers for Iraqi forces.
Already, in just over a year, Iraq has driven ISIS out of the key cities of Tikrit, Ramadi and Falluja.
“These operations will not pay for themselves, and we can not continue to ask our troops to do more around the world by raiding funds needed to modernize their equipment and support their training”, Senate Armed Services Chairman Sen.
Until now, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has been training Iraqis in Jordan. Nineveh is the province where Mosul is located.
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Iraqi forces retook the air base from the Islamic State group on Saturday.
