US Prepared to Conduct Ground Attacks Against ISIL - Carter

The United States is ready to carry out attacks on the ground against Islamic State terrorists, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said in a testimony on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On Thursday, the US Central Command confirmed that a Special Operations team had carried out a rescue mission with Iraqi counterparts near the town of Hawija in northern Iraq.

Some 70 hostages allegedly held by ISIL were set free following the operation. One US soldier, Joshua Wheeler, was killed during the raid and four Kurdish Peshmerga fighters were wounded.

“We won’t hold back from supporting capable partners in opportunistic attacks against ISIL, or conducting such missions directly, whether by strikes from the air or direct action on the ground,” Carter said at a US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

Despite the Thursday raid, the US Department of Defense has insisted it had ended combat operations in Iraq.

“While our mission in Iraq is to train, advise and assist our Iraqi partners, in situations such as that operation — where we have actionable intelligence and a capable partner force — we want to support our partners,” Carter explained.