US military seeks to send 500 U.S. troops to Iraq

(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – The US military is seeking to send additional 500 new troops to Iraq ahead of a much-anticipated campaign to retake Mosul from the ISIS, according to US officials, adding to an expanding American presence in the country.

The new deployment, if approved by the White House, would assist Iraqi and coalition forces in preparing for the battle to capture the northern city, the extremist group’s last major stronghold in Iraq. That fight is expected to begin as early as mid-October, US officials have said.

The US move would come in the wake of an operation that began Tuesday by Iraqi forces in Shirqat to further degrade Islamic State supply lines into Mosul. That operation, which was announced by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in New York, where he is participating in U.N. General Assembly meetings, is a further indication that the Iraqi forces are preparing for the larger fight in Mosul, a city of about one million people.