Mon Mar 21, 2016 09:23:42
The United States military has deployed more Marines to Iraq to boost forces already stationed there.
Pentagon said Sunday that an undisclosed number of soldiers from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit are on a mission to help US forces already deployed in Iraq.
The decision follows this weekend’s deadly ISIS (ISIL / Daesh) rocket fire killing a Marine and seriously injuring some others in northern Iraq.
Officials said Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardin, of Temecula, California, died on March 19 from wounds suffered when his unit was hit by a rocket. The incident is under investigation.
Cardin was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
The attack occurred at the Makhmour base outside the ISIS-held city of Mosul.
The latest deployment comes despite President Barack Obama’s numerous pledges that there would be no "boots on the ground" in the so-called US-led coalition’s fight against the terror group.
Some 3,700 American troops are reportedly in Iraq, advising the local army.
Last December, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced the deployment of a 200-man special operations task force to northern Iraq to begin kill/capture missions against the ISIS.
ISIS overran parts of Iraq in June 2014 with the militants capturing the northern city of Mosul.
Iraq has on several occasions complained about the ineffectiveness of airstrikes launched by the US and its allies in June 2014 allegedly targeting ISIS terrorists in the north and west of the country.
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