Defense Secretary Ash Carter says US ready for ‘direct action on the ground’ against ISIS
“We won’t hold back from supporting capable partners in opportunistic attacks against ISIL, or conducting such missions directly whether by strikes from the air or direct action on the ground,” Carter told the Senate Armed Services committee.
Carter’s announcement comes following the news that Sergeant Joshua Wheeler of the Delta Force was killed during a hostage rescue raid in northern Iraq last week.
A number of Islamic State militants were killed in the operation, which recovered 69 captives the Pentagon says were in danger of imminent execution.
“We expect to intensify our air campaign, including with additional U.S. and coalition aircraft, to target ISIL with a higher and heavier rate of strikes,” Carter said in his opening remarks, adding that the strikes would focus on high-value targets and IS oil facilities. “We’ve already begun to ramp up these deliberate strikes.”
As of Monday, three days had passed without any airstrikes in Syria by the US-led coalition, AFP reported.
During Tuesday’s Senate hearing, Carter said Wheeler “was killed in combat.”
White House deputy press secretary Eric Schultz on Tuesday said the administration has “no intention of long term ground combat”. He added that U.S. forces will continue to robustly train, advise and assist.
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