The United States will provide more support for Iraqi forces to retake Mosul from Islamic State (IS) militants than it did in the recapture of Ramadi, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said on February 29.
The United States will provide more logistics support for Iraqi ground operations and help in setting up temporary bridges that allow Iraqi forces to move into the northern Iraqi city, which is on the Tigris River, he said.
"We are talking about additional things of the kind that we've offered previously but that weren't necessary in the case of Ramadi but might well be helpful as Iraqi forces move north," he said.
Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, was captured nearly two years ago. As in past campaigns against IS, Iraqi troops will take the lead role in the fight to recapture the city, Carter said.
General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the operation to retake Mosul will be bigger than the Ramadi operation in December because Mosul is a bigger city, and that's why it will require more support.