More troops coming to Iraq, says US general in Baghdad

The troops will be sent to the war-ravaged country in the form of "expeditionary targeting force," said US Army Colonel Steve Warren at a press briefing in the Iraqi capital on Wednesday.
 
"A raid is a combat operation, there is no way around that," said the US Defense Department spokesman. "So, yeah, more Americans will be coming here to Iraq, and some of them will be conducting raids inside of both Iraq and Syria."
 
There are already some 3,500 American soldiers in Iraq.
 
During a testimony to the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said  the country was "prepared to expand" the role of Special Operations Forces in Syria.
 
"Where we find further opportunity to leverage such capability, we are prepared to expand it," he said.
 
Meanwhile, Russia has stepped up its military campaign against Daesh terrorists and militants fighting against the Syrian government. Moscow has carried out scores of airstrikes and killed hundreds of terrorists in the neighboring country.
 
US officials claim that Russia has directed parts of its military campaign against US-backed militants and other extremist groups in an effort to weaken them.
 
The United States and its allies have been conducting airstrikes in Iraq and Syria since last year.