US Sends 130 More Military Advisers to Iraq’s Kurdistan

Local Editor

U.S. War Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Tuesday that the U.S. has sent 130 more military advisors to the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

"I recommended to the president and the president has authorized me to go ahead and send about 130 new assessment team members up to northern Iraq in the Arbil area to take a closer look and give more in-depth assessment of where we can continue to help," said Hagel.

Hagel added: "As the president has made very clear, we're not going back to Iraq in any of the same combat mission dimensions that we once were in."

The "assessment team members" had arrived in the northern city of Erbil and would "give more in-depth assessment of where we can continue to help," he said.

A U.S. war official further said the marines and special operations forces will assess the humanitarian situation and will not be engaged in combat, adding that the additional personnel comprise Marines and special operations forces.

The U.S. war official also said the government would continue to explore ways to support "Iraqis affected by the ongoing fighting in Sinjar," and to prevent "potential acts of genocide" by the so-called "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" [ISIL].

The personnel are in addition to about 250 military advisers already in Iraq.

The U.S. has also reportedly begun supplying weapons to the Kurdish forces.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team