The US military is going to deploy more special forces in Iraq to fight Islamic State militants.

The announcement comes from US Defence Secretary Ash Carter who said on Tuesday that unilateral raids would be launched to “put even more pressure” on the extremist forces in Iraq. He clarified that the special operation forces would be sent “at the invitation of the Iraqi government.”

According to Carter, the US government is using “finest fighting force the world has ever known” to fight ISIS militants.

“We’re at war,” the U.S. defence secretary said.

“We have some of our most advanced air and naval forces attacking ISIL (ISIS).” Carter said. “U.S. troops are advising and assisting ground operations in Syria and Iraq.”

Carter referred to the situation in Syria where local forces were fighting ISIS with the support from the US forces. He thanked Congress for providing necessary backing to make it possible.

“Meanwhile, a coalition of Syrian Arabs that we helped equip in North-eastern Syria – with statutory authorisations and funds provided by Congress for which we’re grateful – are fighting alongside Kurdish forces and have recaptured important terrain, most recently pushing ISIL out of the town of Al Hawl and at least 900 square kilometres of surrounding territory,” Carter said.

While the US defence secretary did not reveal much about the special force to be deployed in Iraq, DOD officials have told NBC News that they will be permanently based in the Middle Eastern country. The force is likely to consist of around 150 special operations forces to conduct ground combat raids against ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq.

While US authorities are supposed to work together with their Iraqi counterparts, there may be occasions when the Iraqi government won’t be notified in advance about a certain operation. According to an official talking to NBC News, the US scwill also work in coordination with the Kurds.

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