Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said on Monday that Washington would deploy 560 additional troops to aid Iraq’s fight to retake Mosul from jihadists, deepening US military involvement in the country.
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A senior US military official said the number of additional troops is what had been requested by Gen. Sean MacFarland, commander of the coalition against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, and the official added that there could be requests for more troops in the future.
Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, the top USA commander in Iraq, said that the additional troops will “predominantly” be assigned to Qayyarah Air Base, installing everything from additional security measures to communications gear. The troop increase follows the capture of a key air base by the Iraqi security forces in the continued effort against the Islamic State.
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.
“As he nears the end of his presidency, Obama faces the prospect that he will leave office with ground forces deployed to three combat zones”, Jaffe wrote and added that in Iraq and Syria, “the president has incrementally boosted the USA force, beginning an initial deployment of several hundred troops to Iraq in 2014”.
The new deployment brings the official number of US troops authorized in Iraq to 4,647. “Mosul is the prize”, Col. Chris Garver, a USA military spokesman in Baghdad, said. The U.S. decision to add troops follows Iraqi forces’ retaking of the Qayara air base, about 50 miles south of Mosul. Coalition forces will also continue to provide enabler support to Kurdish Peshmerga as they converge on Mosul from Iraq’s north. “Iraqi security forces, accompanied and advised by us as needed, will complete the southernmost envelopment of Mosul”, he said.Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, commander of the coalition against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, said the additional troops would fill a variety of roles.
“Carter arrived at Baghdad International Airport for talks with Iraqi politicians and security officials”, Iraqi officer Hasan al-Nawfal told Anadolu Agency.
Looking ahead to the struggle over Mosul, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said Monday that the United States would commit an additional 560 troops to Iraq. U.S. President Barack Obama approved of the deployment of additional forces.
In his meetings with Iraqi leaders, coalition commanders and USA troops, Carter also discussed the next steps in the military campaign.
President of Iraq’s Kurdistan region Massoud Barzani and US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter discussed on Monday the latest developments pertaining to the fight against the so-called Islamic State (IS). The additional troops will provide logistical and other support for the Mosul offensive.
The US-led forces invaded Iraq in 2003, overthrowing Saddam Hussein and also setting the stage for 13 years of bloody violence in the country, including the rise of Islamic State.
But Islamic State militants still control large swaths of the country and continue to launch deadly attacks, including a massive suicide bombing last week at Baghdad’s bustling commercial area of Karada.
The Pentagon has announced a series of measures to speed up the war, including a revised mission to train anti-ISIL rebels in northern Syria and extra advisers for Iraqi forces.
On Saturday, they were able to retake the Qayyarah West airfield, one of the biggest air bases in Iraq.
Government forces said on Saturday they had recovered the air base, about 60 km (40 miles) from the northern city, with air support from the US -led military coalition.
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The developments came on the heels of two large-scale attacks claimed by the Islamic State group that killed more than 300 people last week.
