US to send military advisers closer to front lines of ISIS fight in Iraq

 US President Barack Obama will send American military advisers closer to the front lines of the conflict against the Islamic State in Iraq, part of a series of measures that will escalate the United States military campaign to defeat the extremist group, The New York Times reported.

The advisers — who up until now had been assisting Iraqi military divisions, which have about 10,000 troops — will extend that assistance to units of about 2,000 soldiers who are more directly involved in day-to-day combat, Defense Department officials said on Monday.

American and Iraqi commanders want the advisers, who the officials say will not be on the actual front lines, to move closer to the fighting so they can provide timely, tactical guidance to the Iraqis as they prepare for the long-awaited assault on Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, which was seized by the Islamic State in 2014.

Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, who made the announcement in a speech to dozens of American troops at the airport in Baghdad, said the Pentagon would also deploy several Apache attack helicopters and long-range artillery to aid in the fight. The Apaches, known for their withering — and accurate — fire, can quickly provide powerful air support to ground forces. He said that the Pentagon would also increase its logistical support for the Iraqi military.

The announcement of an enhanced American presence in Iraq comes as the administration has said that the campaign against the Islamic State is gaining momentum. In recent days, the Iraqis reclaimed the city of Hit, where commanders estimated there were several hundred Islamic State fighters. The administration says that the Iraqis, with American advisers and air and logistical support, are now poised to move toward larger cities.

Yet it is not clear how seriously to take those claims. It has been two years since the administration began operations against the Islamic State, and the military estimates that the organization still has 10,000 fighters in Iraq. The group controls large sections of the country, including Mosul. Defense Department officials had said that the Iraqis would recapture Mosul last year. Now, they say that the earliest that could happen is later this year.

Obama said in an interview with CBS News that aired on Monday that it was his expectation “that by the end of the year, we will have created the conditions whereby Mosul will eventually fall.”

Source: MENA