WHITE HOUSE ACCELERATES MILITARY SALES TO IRAQ TO FIGHT AL-QAEDA

     Washington, 5 Rabi’ul Awwal 1435/7 January 2014 (MINA) – The White House announced it will ‘boost military assistance’ to Baghdad following some of the bloodiest confrontations between the central government and insurgent groups since US troops pulled out in 2011.

      “We’re accelerating our Foreign Military Sales deliveries and are looking to provide an additional shipment of Hellfire missiles as early as this spring,” said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.

      He added, “These missiles are one small element of that holistic strategy, but they have been proven effective at denying [ISIS] the safe-haven zones that it has sought to establish in western Iraq.”

      In addition to Hellfire missiles, the US will send 10 ScanEagle surveillance UAVs and 48 Raven surveillance UAVs later this year, according to Carney, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

     He also announced that the US has sent “Aerostat surveillance balloons to the government of Iraq in September of last year and delivered three additional Bell IA 407 helicopters in December, just last month, bringing the total purchase bought and delivered to Iraq to 30.”

      The Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) made significant gains against the central government late last week in the western al Anbar province. The government and ISIS clashed over the weekend in the flashpoint city of Fallujah.

      Meanwhile, American Vice President Joe Biden spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Monday pledging America’s backing for Iraq’s fight against al-Qaeda-linked fighters.

     On Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington would help the Iraqi government defeat fighters of the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) but will not deploy American troops on the ground to engage the insurgents.

       Fighters of the al-Qaeda-affiliated group have taken over Fallujah as Iraqi forces were reportedly getting prepared to reclaim the western city. (T/P09/P03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)