Reuters, 11/07 16:01 CET
By Yeganeh Torbati and Stephen Kalin
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The United
States is stepping up its military campaign against Islamic State (IS)
by sending hundreds more troops to assist Iraqi forces in an expected
push on Mosul, the militants’ largest stronghold, later this year.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter made the announcement
on Monday during a visit to Baghdad where he met U.S. commanders as well
as Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Defence Minister Khaled
al-Obeidi.
Most of the 560 troop reinforcements will work out of
Qayara air base, which Iraqi forces recaptured from Islamic State and
plan to use as a staging ground for an offensive to retake Mosul, Iraq’s
second biggest city.
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 U.S.-led military coalition.
“With these additional U.S. forces I’m describing today,
we’ll bring unique capability to the campaign and provide critical
support to the Iraqi forces at a key moment in the fight,” Carter told a
gathering of U.S. troops in Baghdad.
The latest force increase came less than three months
after Washington announced it would dispatch about 200 more soldiers to
accompany Iraqi troops advancing towards Mosul.
Carter told reporters ahead of Monday’s trip that the United States would now help turn Qayara into a logistics hub.
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Source: euronews.
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