US to send 560 more troops to Iraq to prepare for attack on Isis stronghold

The Guardian reports:
Buoyed by recapturing Falluja from the Islamic State and the seizure of an airbase on Saturday, US and Iraqi officials are intensifying plans for an assault on Mosul, the terror group’s last urban stronghold in Iraq.

The US will send 560 more troops to the newly taken base, around 40 miles south of Mosul, which will be used as a staging point for the coming battle that officials suggest is likely to be launched later this year.

The fight for the country’s second-biggest city will define the fate of Isis in Iraq. The group emerged from civil war more than a decade ago and soared to prominence when it seized large parts of the country in mid-2014.