Iraqi security forces take part in an intensive security deployment against Islamic State militants in the town of Amriyat al-Falluja in Anbar province, November 5, 2014. Picture taken November 5, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT CIVIL UNREST MILITARY)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has approved sending up to 1,500 more troops to Iraq, roughly doubling the number of U.S. forces on the ground helping Iraqi and Kurdish forces battle the militant group Islamic State, U.S. officials said on Friday.
Obama's decision greatly expands the scope of the U.S. campaign and the geographic distribution of American forces, some of whom will head into Iraq's fiercely contested western Anbar province for the first time to act as advisers.
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