Pentagon shifts equipment from Iraq to Syria
The Pentagon is removing mine rollers and armored carriers from Iraq as it draws down its presence in the country.
The Pentagon is reversing a decision to send mine-clearing equipment and armored carriers to Iraq, saying they are no longer needed for the fight against the Islamic State (IS).
In a June 22 letter to Congress seen by Al-Monitor, Deputy US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan writes that more than two dozen armored carriers and equipment to clear mined roads are “no longer required to support the Iraqi Security Forces.” Instead, they will be converted to Pentagon stocks to be used in Syria.
Shanahan’s letter doesn’t make clear what prompted the Pentagon’s decision to shift the equipment out of Iraq. The vehicles, which according to US Army doctrine can support a brigade of up to 3,500 troops, had not yet been transferred to Iraqi soldiers in the field.
It’s not immediately clear where the equipment would be used in Syria, although State Department-led demining efforts in the war-torn country have mainly focused on the former IS capital of Raqqa. The city faces a World War II-level cleanup of unexploded mines and improvised explosive devices, US officials have told Al-Monitor.
