The United States will send an additional 560 troops to help the Iraqi forces retake the city of Mosul from Daesh, Defence Secretary Ash Carter said on Monday.
The new US forces should arrive in the coming weeks.
“These additional US forces will bring unique capabilities to the campaign and provide critical enabler support to Iraqi forces at a key moment in the fight,” Carter told reporters during an unannounced visit to the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
The addition troops will include engineers, logistics personnel, security and communications forces who will concentrate on building up Qayara air base, 40 kilometres south of Mosul.
The Iraqi army retook Qayara air base from Daesh on Saturday and intends to use it as a platform to launch attacks against the organisation in Mosul.
Spokesman for the Joint Operations Command General Yahya Rasoul on Monday said the defence secretary’s visit to Baghdad will address the training and arming of Iraqi forces.
“The Defence Secretary comes at an important time, after achieving great victories against ISIS [Daesh],” Rasoul told Anadolu news agency.
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