US offers humanitarian aid as Iraq prepares Mosul offensive

Dozens were killed in a spate of attacks across Iraq on Monday when militants of the so-called “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” (ISIL) terrorist group attacked a security headquarters in al-Rutba in western Iraq on the first day of Eid al-Adha, police sources said. More than 3.3 million Iraqis remain displaced from their homes due to violence, according to the United Nations.

When asked if there were “American assets on the ground” searching for possible chemical weapons caches or labs, Brennan replied: “US intelligence is actively involved in being a part of the efforts to destroy ISIL and to get as much insight into what they have on the ground inside of Syria and Iraq”.

The assistance, announced by US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken, will address those needs expected to occur after the planned liberation of Mosul from the clutches of the so-called Islamic State (IS). Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has vowed to liberate the city before the close of the year. Critics say preparations for the humanitarian and political fallout have not kept pace with military gains.

Blinken said the additional funding brought to around $1.1 billion the amount of humanitarian aid from the U.S. to Iraq since 2014, when the Islamic State group took over parts of the country.

If made battle ready it could serve as a pivotal hub for USA aircraft to carry out strikes on Daesh targets in Mosul, Iraq’s second city.

The US-led coalition destroyed more than 110 oil tanker trucks for the Islamic State (ISIS) radical group in one week, Lieutenant General Jeffrey Harrigian, head of the U.S. Air Forces Central Command, said on Tuesday.

Iraqi security forces, backed by coalition air power, are in the final weeks of “shaping” operations ahead of an assault to recapture Mosul, which Daesh seized in 2014 and which remains the militants’ last main stronghold in Iraq.