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U.S. deploying extra troops to Iraq

The U.S. forces will focus help on training volunteers from among Iraq's Sunnis.

By Mary Papenfuss
A Kurdish Peshmerga soldier takes up position in Makhmur town, northwest of Erbil, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq last summer. UPI File/Mohammed al Jumaily
A Kurdish Peshmerga soldier takes up position in Makhmur town, northwest of Erbil, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq last summer. UPI File/Mohammed al Jumaily | License Photo

BAGHDAD, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- The next wave of 1,500 extra American troops to train and advise Iraqi forces in their continuing battle against the Islamic State will be sent abroad within the next few weeks, says the Pentagon.

They're expected to focus help on volunteers from Iraq's Sunni tribes who have been joining training centers at army bases.,

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Pentagon officials said they hoped personnel from other countries would soon be joining the effort, as well.

"I think, certainly by the end of the calendar year, you're going to see a much more robust presence, not just by the United States doing this but by coalition partners, as well," said Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby.

The Pentagon still needs funding approval from Congress for the extra personnel.

President Barack Obama announced earlier this month plans to roughly double the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, adding an additional 1,500 to establish sites to train nine Iraqi military brigades and three Kurdish Peshmerga brigades.

Peshmerga fighters have launched a fresh assault this week against Islamic State militants, backed by American airstrikes, concentrating their counteroffensive around the city of Kirkuk.

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