Local Editor

US President Barack Obama on Tuesday ordered about 350 more American troops to Baghdad to safeguard the US embassy in the Iraqi capital, increasing the military presence to more than 1,000 forces, according to the White House.

He will also be sending top officials to the Middle East to "build a stronger regional partnership" against the so-called "Islamic State" [IS] militants.

The latest troop deployment brings the number of forces devoted to security for US diplomats in Iraq to 820, the Pentagon said.

An additional 300 troops are serving as "advisors" to Iraqi security forces, for a total footprint of more than 1,000 troops.

Under the president's decision, about 400 troops will head to Baghdad and about 55 forces that have been on the ground will rotate out of the country, officials said.

According to The White House, the additional troops heading to Baghdad would not serve in a combat role.

The White House said Obama would be consulting this week with NATO allies on additional actions to take against IS forces and "to develop a broad-based international coalition to implement a comprehensive strategy to protect our people and to support our partners" against the group.

As part of that effort, the White House said, the United States would send Secretary of State John Kerry, War Secretary Chuck Hagel and Obama's "counterterrorism" adviser, Lisa Monaco, to the Middle East "in the near-term to build a stronger regional partnership."

Moreover, the actions reflect the growing US concern about the threat posed by the IS militants who have captured parts of Iraq and Syria, and came on the same day that the extremist group released a video purporting to show its beheading of a second American hostage.

IS released a video on Tuesday purporting to show the beheading of a second American hostage, journalist Steven Sotloff, raising the stakes in its confrontation with Washington over US airstrikes on its insurgents in Iraq.

The US military has carried out a series of airstrikes against the group in Iraq, with the most recently announced one coming on Monday.

Obama has faced bipartisan criticism since he said recently last week that, "We don't have a strategy yet" for confronting the militant group's operations in Syria.

The United States invaded Iraq in 2003, toppling Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, and Obama withdrew the last of the American military force in 2011. However, the United States previously deployed fresh troops to provide embassy security in Baghdad in June.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team