US to send about 600 more troops

The United States is sending about 600 extra troops to Iraq to train local forces for an upcoming offensive on the Islamic State group stronghold of Mosul, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said yesterday.

IS seized Mosul along with other areas in June 2014, but the country's forces have since regained significant ground from the jihadists and are readying for a drive to retake Iraq's second largest city.

Carter said the extra US forces would be tasked with training Iraqis, gathering intelligence and providing logistical support for the Mosul push.

The US forces will head to Qayyarah, a strategically vital air base 40 miles south of Mosul that will help funnel supplies and troops toward the city, as well as other locations including the joint Iraqi-US Al Asad air base.

The announcement will bring the official US force size in Iraq to 5,262 -- though the actual number is higher than that because the tally doesn't include certain assignments.

Most are in advisory or training roles, working with Iraqi and peshmerga forces, but some American troops have fought IS on the ground, and three members of the US military have been killed by the jihadists in Iraq.

Carter expects the Mosul offensive to begin in the coming weeks, but stressed the decision was an Iraqi one. IS has had two years to reinforce its defenses in Mosul, and observers are expecting a difficult fight amid a civilian population.

IS loses control of last oil wells in Iraq

Islamic State militants no longer control any oil wells in Iraq after being ousted by government forces last week from an area near Kirkuk, the oil ministry said yesterday. The group were driven out of Shirqat on Thursday by US-backed Iraqi forces. Deprived of oil income, IS will have to find other financing means such as increasing taxation and fines in areas still under its control, said Muthana Jbara, a provincial security official.