US mulls sending more troops to fight ISIS in Iraq
US troops in Iraq. File Photo
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A well placed source in the Ministry of Interior, Iraq, citing a report published in CNN said on Wednesday that the Pentagon is in the preliminary stages of discussing whether to send more ‘Special Operations’ forces to advise and assist Iraqi forces for the assault to retake Mosul from ISIS.
“Even though, at this point, there are no formal proposals for how many troops might be needed for such an advise-and-assist role and when would the dispatch be made, but the deliberations are a reflection of how difficult the fight to retake Iraq’s second-largest actually is. ISIS needs to be defeated for keeping the credibility of the Iraqi government intact,” the source said quoting an unnamed US security official.
The source further informed that the fight to retake Mosul could begin as soon as next month.
It may be mentioned here that there are currently 4,480 US troops in Iraq. About 550 are performing a wide variety of training, advising and assisting roles for Iraqi and Kurdish forces.