US mulls extra troops in Iraq

June 10, 2015 22:26

President Barack Obama's administration is planning to train Sunni tribes' fighters as part of its move to send up to 450 additional US forces to Iraq, the White House said Wednesday.

The United States is also sending weapons to Sunni and Shia tribes, as well as the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, who are operating under Iraqi command, in order to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The hope, an Obama administration official said, is that a new "Sunni uprising" similar to one that took place in 2013 will occur - but this time, aimed at Islamic State fighters.

"This is designed to focus on training the Sunnis," the official said.

The additional US military personnel will train and advise Iraqi and tribal troops at the Taqaddum military base in eastern Anbar province.

Sunni fighters will continue with the standard practice of undergoing a security review by the Iraq's before they are permitted to join, to ensure they do not have loyalties to ISIS, the official said.

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