Qayyarah

The Islamic State militant group (ISIS) has staged a new offensive against Iraqi forces south of Mosul, slaughtering soldiers and civilians as it nears a U.S. military installation.

The United States will send about 600 extra troops to Iraq to train local forces for an offensive on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) stronghold of Mosul, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Sept. 28.

The Iraqi army said March 24 that its troops and allied militia had launched what is expected to be a long and difficult offensive to retake the second city of Mosul, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's (ISIL) main hub in Iraq.