Obama administration announces it is sending 600 more troops to Iraq

The U.S. plans to send roughly 600 more troops to Iraq to "further enable" local forces in the fight to retake the city of Mosul from the Islamic State, Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters Wednesday. The additional troops will join the 4,565 military personnel already in Iraq, and will assist with training and advising the Iraqi military.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said he had requested additional troops to "provide support for security forces," and the Obama administration had agreed to provide them. In a statement posted to his official website, al-Abadi stressed that the role of American troops would remain strictly advisory, and that Iraqi troops would complete the combat mission.

The Associated Press reported that a victory in Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and ISIS's "last major urban stronghold" in the country, would be both "symbolic and strategic." If Iraqi troops could successfully reclaim Mosul, The Associated Press reported, the U.S. and its allies believe that could pave the way for defeating ISIS in Raqqa, the terrorist group's stronghold in Syria.

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