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Carter partially reveals "next set of plays" to retake Mosul, Raqqah

WASHINGTON, July 27 (KUNA) -- US Defence Secretary Ash Carter on Wednesday gave a broad description of the coalition's plan, or "next set of plays", aimed at retaking Iraq's Mosul and Syria's Raqqah from the so-called Islamic State (IS).
The revealed steps are only the "basic elements" agreed by coalition member countries amid meetings in Washington last week, which he would not yet fully reveal as "we don't want the enemy to know too much." In Syria, the US-led coalition will close channels IS fighters use to move in and out of the country, particularly for the aim of foreign attacks by "external operators," he told troops at the US largest base, Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
The coalition will build pressure on IS "from the south" while maintaining their push from northeastern Syria. This, he said, would help Jordan and the split of IS operations in Iraq from Syria.
In Iraq, the coalition and Iraqi security forces, along the Euphrates River Valley, will aim to push the threat of IS further away from Baghdad and help the government regain control over some of its main lines of communications, he added.
In the north, the coalition will continue its fight along the Tigris River Valley.
At the same time, it will help Iraqi security forces, including the Kurdish Peshmerga, to "refit and generate the forces and logistical footprint necessary to isolate and pressure Mosul." As the attack on Raqqah and Mosul "builds from the outside in, our partners will continue to reach deep inside those cities to enable pressure on ISIL from the inside out," he mentioned. (end) sd.hb