American soldiers in Mosul. Maya Alleruzzo/Associated Press
The Pentagon is officially deploying hundreds of military advisers “closer and deeper into the Iraqi formation” in the ongoing operation against ISIS in Mosul.
“It is true that we’re operating closer and deeper into the Iraqi formation, so we adjusted our posture during the east Mosul fight and we embedded advisers a bit further down into the formation,” Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend told journalists in Baghdad on Monday.
Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Gen. Jim Mattis de-facto confirmed that US troops are engaged in fighting against ISIS terrorists in the area.
“The attack into the city is something I don’t want to go into details about because I owe confidentiality to the troops who are actually making the attack. At the same time, we are very close to it if not already engaged in that, in that fight,” he said. “The US forces continue in the same role that they were in East Mosul and the coalition forces are in support of this operation, and we will continue as you know with the accelerated effort to destroy ISIS.”
According to the LA Times, at least 450 US special forces are now at frontlines alongside with Iraqi forces.
Last weekend, Iraqi forces launched a large-scale operation to retake the western part of the major Iraqi city of Mosul from the ISIS terrorist group.