U.S. To Send 100 Special Ops Personnel to Combat ISIS

A hundred commandos are set to be deployed by the United States to Iraq to combat Islamic State jihadists.

Defense News reported that US military spokesperson, Col. Steve Warren, announced this plan on Wednesday.

"Probably around 100, maybe a little bit less. In fact, really fewer actual trigger-pullers, if you will ... It's a very small number, a double-digit number," Warren added.

The same report noted that the statement was made a day after Defense Secretary, Ash Carter, announced that more troops will join to supplement the existing group, "Expeditionary Targeting Force," fighting the IS group.

In response, Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, said his country does not need these troops to put an end to the violence of the Islamic State jihadists, though he did not reject the armed forces sent to Iraq.

Warren, on the other hand, claimed that they have been discussing the matter with the prime minister for some weeks now.

Meanwhile, ABC News said that the additional deployment would now require raising the current authorised troop cap set at 3,550.

This group is reportedly composed of "enablers and other supper personnel" for the small number of "trigger-pullers."

"Because that's a lot of times who's either directing the cross-border operations or who's physically going across the borders," Warren added in the ABC News report.

He added that the raids to be conducted by these men will strengthen the Syrian border and "reduce the porousness" of ISIS leaders.

The US military spokesperson highlighted that the new force will join the existing Iraqi and Kurdish teams inside Iraq.

"Based in Iraq, the force will conduct unilateral raids inside Syria to capture high-value ISIS targets who could provide useful intelligence for future raids," Warren added.

It was clarified in the NBC News report that the United States will consult with the Iraqi government, though there could be times that a notice will not be given to Baghdad.

Carter said the primary mission of the forces sent to Iraq is to destroy ISIS for its "assault on the civilisation," which started with the terror attacks in Paris.

"We are acting to defeat ISIL at its core," added the defense secretary.

In providing an update about the situation, Carter said the country's forces have already reclaimed Sinjar town and cut the main line of communication of ISIS in areas like Raqqa, Syria and Mosul, Iraq. These areas are considered to be the biggest cities under the control of the terrorist groups.