“An elite U.S. special operations targeting force has arrived in Iraq and will carry out operations against the Islamic State, part of a broader effort in 2016 to strike at the militants and that also includes U.S. special operations troops in Syria, Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said Wednesday.”

Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC)

“The targeting force is now in place and is prepared to work with Iraqis to begin going after militant fighters and commanders, “killing or capturing them wherever we find them”, Carter said, speaking to about 200 soldiers at the home of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division, which is expected to deploy about 500 soldiers next month to Iraq and Kuwait as part of the campaign against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL.”

Read the rest of the new report by Dan Lamothe, “Elite U.S. targeting force has arrived in Iraq to fight the Islamic State”The Washington Post, January 13, 2016.

(Featured image: AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)