Slutspel i Irak? ISIS och allierade erövrar Mosul

Pentagon will boost number of troops in Iraq following seizure of key airfield

The decision will elevate the number of U.S. troops the Pentagon counts in Iraq to 4,647. Unofficially, that figure is likely closer to 6,000 when counting a variety of American troops who deploy on temporary assignments that the Pentagon does not count against that number.

U.S. officials described the Iraqi operation that took back Qayyarah air base as their largest armored operation since Saddam Hussein’s forces invaded Kuwait in 1990. It included one battalion from the Iraqi army’s 9th Armored Division, three battalions from Iraq’s counterterrorism forces and the 92nd Brigade of the Iraqi army’s 15th division, a senior Iraqi army commander said.