US doubles troops in Iraq

President Barack Obama has authorized the doubling of US troop levels in Iraq for the war against Islamic State (ISIS) militants, further straining his pledge against “boots on the ground”.On Friday, he unveiled plans to send 1,500 additional troops to Iraq to help Baghdad government forces strike back at Islamic State jihadists, roughly doubling the number of US soldiers in the country.The move marked a deepening US commitment in the open-ended war against the ISIS group, three months since American aircraft launched air strikes against the Sunni extremists.

The move extends the US training and advising mission to new areas as Iraqi and Kurdish forces prime themselves to recapture ground lost to the IS group, including in the volatile Anbar province in the west where the Iraqi army has been on the retreat.The reinforcements were "part of our strategy for strengthening partners on the ground" but the troops would have a "non-combat role," the White House said in a statement.The United States already is carrying out air strikes against the ISIS group in Iraq and Syria but officials insisted the decision did not signal "mission creep" towards another all-out ground war.

The US forces will be carrying out the same mission that has been outlined from the start -- to help the Iraqi forces on the ground, the official said.Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights yesterday said US-led air strikes hit jihadist positions in the north and east of Syria, including an oil field.The US-led coalition, which launched strikes against jihadist positions in Syria in September, also hit IS militants in Kobane.Meanwhile, a suicide bomber killed a senior Iraqi police officer in Baiji on Friday as security forces regained ground from jihadists in the strategic northern town, officials said.The bomber detonated an explosives-rigged tanker truck at a checkpoint in the Al-Sinai area which officers had said was retaken more than a week before, killing Major General Faisal Ahmed and three other policeman, and wounding six.The bombing came after a senior officer told AFP that government forces now hold "more than 70 percent" of the town -- including neighbourhoods in the south, east and north -- and were battling to capture the rest.