The US 101st Airborne Division will play a pivotal role in training Iraqi ground troops in the Mosul offensive. This is what Defense Secretary Ash Carter said a few hours ago during a visit to Fort Campbell.
“We will soon be operational in Baghdad and Erbil to train and advise the Iraqi army and Kurdish peshmerga forces that will attack Mosul within the next few months. They need our skills and our experience. "
Mosul, conquered by the Islamic state in May 2014, will be attacked from the north by the peshmerga and from the south by loyalist troops.
“The conquest of Mosul will be decisive in the victory against the Islamic State, but reaching and regaining Mosul will not be easy and it will not be fast. However, this is the right approach ”.
Meanwhile, Carter recognized for the first time the use of US special forces in Iraq and Syria.
"Our multipliers are in action, but in Syria ... we sent the elite there." Carter did not add any further details on the matter.
(photo: US Army)
