U.S. Troops Back in Iraq’s Anbar Province Where ISIS Holds Sway
U.S. troops have returned to Iraq's embattled Anbar province for the first time since fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) swept in last summer and took control of large swaths of the area west of Baghdad, the Pentagon said Monday.
About 50 U.S. troops were at the al-Asad air base 100 miles west of Baghdad near the southern bank of the Euphrates River, Pentagon and U.S. Central Command officials said.
The troops are conducting a site survey of al-Asad as a future training base for anti-ISIS forces and were not engaged in advising Iraqi national security forces who were holding off ISIS attacks, the officials said.
Anbar was the scene of horrific and prolonged fighting, mostly by U.S. Marines, for the flashpoint cities of Fallujah and Ramadi before the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces in 2011. Fallujah has since fallen to ISIS while Iraqi forces still control about half of Ramadi.
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2014/11/11/us-sends-1st-delegation-to-anbar-to-survey-support-sites.html