The U.S. is providing the Iraqi government millions of rounds of additional ammunition, mortar rounds and other defenses after the costly defeat of Iraqi forces in Ramadi by the Islamic State last weekend.
The U.S. and coalition partners are rushing 2,000 anti-tank guns known as the AT4 shoulder-fired rocket, 22 million rounds of small arms ammunition, 20,000 M-16 rifles, 12,000 mortar rounds, 2,000 hellfire missiles and other equipment to reinforce the Iraqi Army.
The AT4 transfers were expedited to help Iraqi forces counter the Islamic State’s new tactic of using massive car bombs, which the terrorist group used in its final push in Ramadi last weekend. The shoulder-fired system will allow those bombs to be neutralized from a safer distance.
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The scope of the munitions provided underscores the urgency of stemming the Islamic State’s advance in Iraq, even as the group advances in Syria.
As of April, U.S. airstrikes, training and support to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has cost U.S. taxpayers $2.11 billion, or approximately $8.6 million a day since Operation Inherent Resolve began in August.
The U.S. has also provided 250 mine-resistant, ambush-protected armored vehicles — fifty of those are “mine rollers” used to detect and detonate roadside bombs — 10,000 sets of body armor and vests, and “millions of rounds” of arms for anti-tank weapons and other artillery, said Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi requested the weapons when he visited the U.S. last month. The delivery is “a follow-up to the al-Abadi visit,” Warren said.
The anti-tank weapons will be fast-tracked, a signal of the urgency required to stop recent momentum gains by the Islamic State.
“In continued communications with the government of Iraq, we are expediting a transfer case for sourcing and delivery of 2,000 AT4s, which will arrive as early as next week,” Warren said.
But the weapons will still be routed to Iraq through its central government, raising questions as to whether those weapons will be transferred to Sunni tribal leaders willing to fight the Islamic State in Anbar.
