ISIS War: US Prepares For Massive Attack With Stockpiled Weapons and Vehicles in Kuwait
The U.S. military is reportedly stockpiling assault vehicles and weapons used in the Afghanistan conflict at a Kuwait depot. The weapons will be shipped across the border to Iraq in preparation for the U.S.-led coalition offensive against ISIS militants.
The Kuwait depot is filled with an estimated 3,100 vehicles, majority of them mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles. The assault vehicles were commonly seen in U.S. military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. According to US News, defence officials have revealed that the U.S. is also preparing electronic equipment and other supplies in the warehouse at the Shuaiba port in Kuwait.
The stockpiled military gear will be reinforced and repaired if needed as top officials involved in the U.S. airstrikes in Iraq are planning their next move to defeat ISIS in the coming months. Air Force Maj. Gen. Rowayne Schatz, U.S. Transportation Command operations director, said that military forces have been moving the items to Kuwait from June to December.
International media reports said that the U.S. and its allies may be planning to launch a military offensive to aid Iraqi government forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters reclaim territory from ISIS. The U.S. Central Command will soon decide how much of the vehicles and supplies will be shipped to Iraq. The rest of the equipment will either be disposed or sent to the U.S.
Meanwhile, the taskforce running the Operation Inherent Resolve has denied recent reports that U.S. troops have engaged ISIS militants in ground combat. Gary Boucher, a spokesman for the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, said they were "unfounded" as only Iraqi security forces are on the ground fighting ISIS. He further denied any contact with U.S. forces and ISIS near the al Assad airbase, Military.com reported.
Since the campaign against ISIS began on Aug. 8, U.S. and the coalition forces have launched more than 1,300 airstrikes against ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria. U.S. military operations in the region are managed by U.S. Central Command with the headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base.
Last week, the Pentagon has announced that the defence department has sent 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division to join other troops who play advisers to Iraqi forces in Baghdad and Irbil as well as other facilities in Iraq.
