The U.S. and its allies will use the newly recaptured Iraqi air base in Qayyarah as headquarters in the mission to liberate Mosul city from the Islamic State group, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced Monday when he arrived in Baghdad on an unannounced visit. “That’s its strategic role, and that’s its strategic importance”, Carter said at a press conference in Baghdad.
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A senior US military official said the number of additional troops is what Gen. Sean MacFarland, commander of the coalition against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, had asked for, and the official added that there could additional troop requests in the future.
Iraqi forces retook the airbase from ISIL on Saturday.
U.S. forces had already visited Qayara to check on its condition and advisers can offer specialized engineering support in Mosul, where Islamic State has blown up bridges across the Tigris, U.S. officials said.
“With the retaking of Qayara West airfield, the Iraqi security forces have once again demonstrated a serious will to fight”, Carter said.
On this, his fifth trip to the Iraqi capital, Carter was greeted at his plane in Baghdad by U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Stuart Jones and MacFarland.
Carter arrived in Baghdad Monday to discuss the Iraqi army’s plans – including USA involvement – to retake the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which has been in ISIS hands since June 2014. They weren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly and demanded anonymity.
The additional troops will bring the total number of United States forces in Iraq up to 4,647, according to the official Pentagon tally.
Carter told reporters earlier in the day that U.S. advisors were prepared to accompany Iraqi battalions if needed, as those units begin the siege of the key northern city, but it is not clear when exactly that will happen.
The role of United States troops had previously been limited to advising at headquarters and division levels, much further from any active frontlines. Now planning turns toward encircling and eventually capturing Iraq’s second-largest city and the Islamic State final urban stronghold, which it has held since the summer of 2014.
Carter will meet with USA troops including Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland, the commander of the US-led operation against IS, and Iraqi Defence Minister Khalid al-Obeidi. The main topic, he said, will be the next steps in the military campaign, with a particular focus on Mosul. They will assist the Iraqis troops on the Qarayyah base with logistics, because a large number of Iraqis will be sent there.
Mosul native Obeidi reportedly said that “2016 will be the year of the liberation of Mosul and the rest of Iraq”.
The Islamic State has hit the Iraqi capital in recent months with a series of terrorist attacks, mostly suicide bombings against civilians. As many as 186 died in the attack.
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Until now, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has been training Iraqis in Jordan.
