Carter: Increased Ground Operations Against 'Islamic State' Likely

Ashton Carter, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, on Friday, November 1st, referred to the operation that freed 70 hostages held by the 'Islamic State' group in Iraq, stating that the likelihood of further ground attacks in Iraq exists. According to Reuters, Carter emphasized that after receiving credible information about the imminent threat of execution of the hostages, and even that their graves had been prepared, he ordered the rescue operation. The U.S. Secretary of Defense clarified: 'When the opportunity arises for actions that can impact our campaign, we will take such actions. There will likely be more opportunities like this in the future, and we will take advantage of them.' Reports on Thursday indicated that U.S. forces, alongside Iraqi forces and Kurdish Peshmerga, successfully freed several hostages from the Islamic State in a joint operation near the city of Hawija. One American soldier was killed in this operation. However, Ashton Carter reiterated on Friday that the U.S. will intensify its operations against the Islamic State, particularly targeting the group's oil production facilities. Meanwhile, reports indicate that Islamic State fighters on Friday managed to take control of part of a road in southeastern Aleppo, jeopardizing the only supply route for the Syrian army into the city of Aleppo. According to Reuters, Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights based in London, stated that Islamic State forces have been able to seize control of sections of the road between the cities of Khanasir and Athria. According to this report, the Islamic State, in a statement published on one of its affiliated websites, claimed to have taken control of eight checkpoints on the road leading to Aleppo. In contrast, the Syrian state news agency reported, without mentioning this, that government forces and local militias had managed to capture four villages in southern Aleppo.