More US Troops Arrive at Iraqi Airbase South of Mosul

Troops Will Provide 'Logistic Support' for Mosul Invasion

Reports out of the area around Qayara say that hundreds of additional US ground troops have arrived at the Qayara Air Base, to join several hundred troops already there. The troops are expected to provide “logistic support” for the Mosul invasion.

Iraqi troops “captured” the Qayara Air Base to much fanfare last month, and intend to use this as a base of operation in the attack on Mosul. The base had long since been abandoned by ISIS, stripped clean by ISIS forces that have controlled the area for the past two years.

A lot of effort is being pumped into repair the air base, which was rendered largely useless by heavy US airstrikes in recent years, and a new bridge to allow forces to cross the river and advance against the area south of Mosul.

Though the Pentagon has long warned that it is unlikely the Iraqi military is really ready to take the enormous city of Mosul, US officials have suggested that the invasion could begin as soon as October. Kurdish forces have been seizing ISIS territory north of Mosul and annexing it into their territory, which has Iraq eager to secure as much territory as possible, setting up what are likely the battle lines for the next war in the region.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.