Separately U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter warned that “there will be boots on the ground” in the upcoming battles to defeat the Islamic State militants, but the primary focus will be support not substitution for Iraqi troops. So far, U.S. troops, except on rare occasions, have been mostly limited to training roles
The U.S. military is considering deploying U.S. forces to Iraqi bases north of Baghdad ahead of an attempt at recovering Mosul. Australian and New Zealand troops are already assisting Iraqi commandos for that operation.
At least 48 people were killed and xx were wounded:
A roadside bomb in Jurf al-Sakhar wounded three policemen.
In Sajariya, 20 militants were killed in air strikes.
Nineteen militants were killed in Thar Thar and Falluja.
In Ramadi, nine militants were killed.
