WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – A US High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) will be based in Turkey to support operations against Daesh in Syria, and another system will be used in Iraq to help local forces, a Pentagon official said during a press briefing on Tuesday.
"Those are two separate Himars systems, one is going to be used in Turkey in support of our operations in Syria, and the second one will be used in support of our operations in Iraq," deputy commander for operations and intelligence for the Combined Joint Task Force Peter Gersten said.
The US-led international coalition of more than 60 members has been carrying out airstrikes against Daesh targets in Iraq since August 2014.
In March, US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said that Washington was deploying units to the Middle East that could operate the HIMARS to aid the coalition in its fight against Daesh.
On Monday, US President Barack Obama announced that Washington would send additional 250 US personnel to Syria to help local forces in their fight against Daesh. Moreover, last week the Obama administration said it would send 217 troops to Iraq to assist the local forces in retaking Daesh stronghold of Mosul.
