Kerry: Iraq briefed on US special forces plan

Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday that the Iraqi government has been briefed on the Obama administration’s plan to deploy U.S. Special Forces to Iraq.

{mosads}Defense Secretary Ashton Carter made the troop announcement Tuesday during a hearing on Capitol Hill, saying the troops will conduct raids and rescue hostages in Iraq and Syria.

“The government of Iraq was of course briefed in advance of Secretary Carter’s announcement,” Kerry told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

“We will continue to work very, very closely with our Iraqi partners on exactly who would be deployed, where they would be deployed, what kinds of missions people would undertake, how they would support Iraqi efforts to degrade and destroy ISIL,” Kerry said, using an alternate acronym for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Carter said the raids would be carried out at the invitation of the Iraqi government. Roughly 200 personnel have reportedly been called for in Iraq, while the Pentagon has also announced it would send fewer than 50 special operations forces to Syria.