That includes USA -operated Apache helicopters for the coming battle to retake Mosul, an Islamic State stronghold, Defense Secretary Ash Carter told troops during a visit to Baghdad. “My expectation is that by the end of the year, we will have created the conditions whereby Mosul will eventually fall”, he added.
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On a visit to Baghdad this week, Carter described the decision to deploy another 217 soldiers as “more of the same”, in the sense that it aligns with the US strategy of providing more support to Iraqi forces as they gain momentum, while not doing the fighting for them.
The next phase of the war against the Islamic State – focusing on Mosul – has been coordinated with Kurdish and Iraqi leaders, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced.
US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced a further escalation of the US war in Iraq to include deployment of at least 200 additional troops, along with Apache helicopter gunships and artillery.
Troops will also be authorised to advise Iraqis at the battalion and brigade level as opposed to the larger divisions, potentially exposing them to greater risks closer to the front lines.
The additional troops will bring the US force in Iraq to 4,087 servicemembers, a USA official said.
Under the loosened rules, USA advisers could get closer to the battlefield by being embedded with the Iraqi battalion headquarters.
Later this week, Obama will be in Saudi Arabia to meet with Gulf leaders and talk about the fight against the Islamic State.
The increased military support comes as the US -led coalition looks to better enable local Iraqi and Syrian forces to retake the key cities of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria.
Washington has applauded Turkey’s role in the anti-IS coalition but United States officials on occasion have urged Ankara to do more.
Haider al-Abadi, Iraq Prime Minister, understands the necessity of Apache helicopters for certain cases and has already approved of using them.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter attends a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington.
Dunford said the idea is to “isolate Mosul until the conditions are set for those (ground) forces to be successful in securing” the city.
It is the first major increase in USA forces in almost a year, United States defence officials said on Monday. The move is part of a series of measures aimed at broadening the U.S. military campaign against the extremist group in Iraq. “It is to enable capable and motivated local forces to sustain the defeat”.
MacFarland left the door open to the possibility that even more USA troops would be sent to Iraq if the new additional forces prove “insufficient” to defeating the Islamic State group in Mosul.
On the upcoming fight to take Mosul back from ISIL, MacFarland said Mosul will differ from operations that took place around the retaking of Ramadi.
“The U.S. -led coalition has used the Al Dhafra Air Base for airstrikes against Islamic State, as well as for intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance missions”. They will now also work with units of about 2,000 soldiers who are more directly involved in day-to-day combat, Defense Department officials said.
The senseless killings follow a spate of similar executions last August, which saw 19 Mosul women slaughtered for refusing to have sex with ISIS fighters.
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The additional 217 troops are the latest in a series of incremental additions to the US military effort in Iraq.
