PHOTO: AFP
Speaking to the House Armed Services Committee, the Pentagon chief said a ‘specialised expeditionary targeting force’ will be deployed to help Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces battle the IS group. He did not say how many troops would be involved.
The special forces will also be able to intervene in northern Syria, where Washington previously announced it is sending about 50 special operations troops in a non-combat role.
“These special operators will over time be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence, and capture IS leaders,” he said. “This force will also be in a position to conduct unilateral operations into Syria.”
President Barack Obama has said the United States would not send large-scale, ‘boots on the ground’ deployments of American troops to fight IS, and instead would intensify its air campaign against the group.
But in late October, Obama authorised sending about 50 special operations forces to Syria in a non-combatant, advisory role to help coordinate local ground troops and anti-IS coalition efforts. This marked the first official deployment of US troops on the ground in Syria since an international coalition formed last year to counter the group.
Carter said the Pentagon is ‘prepared to expand’ the role of these troops in Syria. “American special operators bring a unique suite of capabilities that make them force multipliers,” Carter said. “Where we find further opportunity to leverage such capability, we are prepared to expand it.”
Carter was joined by his top commanding officer General Joe Dunford. Asked whether the IS group had been contained, Dunford said: “We have not contained IS.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 2nd, 2015.
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