US drawing plan to deploy hundreds of troops in Iraq against IS

The United States is reportedly drawing up plans to deploy hundreds of additional troops in Iraq to expand the training of Iraqi forces and Sunni tribal fighters to fight against the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

According to The Guardian, the Obama Administration is not contemplating a radical change in war strategy or sending American forces into ground combat in spite of the recent gains made by IS militants.

The Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steven Warren said that they are working on a strategy on how to train more Iraqi security forces.

He also insisted that it was in everyone's interest to train more forces since the already "trained forces are performing better than expected".

The training effort would carry "a particular emphasis on the Sunnis", the official said.