| Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) carry weapons during clashes with Islamic State militants in frontline near university of Mosul, Iraq, January 13, 2017. REUTERS photo |
Iraqi forces fighting Islamic State in Mosul reached the Nineveh province governance building and raised the Iraqi flag there on Friday, a senior U.S. defense official said.
Elissa Slotkin, the acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, also told a Pentagon briefing on the fight against Islamic State that a U.S. liaison team is in talks with Turkey about helping its forces near al-Bab in Syria and has provided air support and surveillance in the past.
“We are engaged on an hourly basis with the Turks on counter-ISIL campaign in Syria,” Slotkin said, referring to Islamic State by an acronym. “We have a liaison team that’s resident in Ankara. They are engaging every single day on the full spectrum of coalition support to the campaign.”