WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US forces will use Apache helicopters in support of coalition operations to retake the northern Iraqi city of Mosul from Daesh, US Department of Defense press secretary Peter Cook said in a Twitter message on Monday.
"[US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter] announces authority to employ AH-64 Apache helicopters in support of operations to retake Mosul," Cook said.
#SecDef announces authority to employ AH-64 Apache helicopters in support of operations to retake Mosul.
— Peter Cook (@PentagonPresSec) 18 апреля 2016 г.
Cook stressed that the deployment is part of measures intended to accelerate the defeat of the Islamic State "by, with and through" the Iraqi government.
Moreover, Peter Cook said in a Twitter message that US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter announced that the United States would provide Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in Iraq with up to $415 million in additional financial assistance to support the fight against Daesh.
"To accelerate momentum in [the counter]-ISIL fight, [Carter] says we will provide up to $415 million in financial assistance to Peshmerga fighters," Cook said.
To accelerate momentum in c-ISIL fight #SecDef says we will provide up to $415M in financial assistance to Peshmerga fighters
— Peter Cook (@PentagonPresSec) 18 апреля 2016 г.
