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        Iraqi Leaders Discussing Single Commander for Battle Against IS

   by VOA News

   Iraqi leaders will begin a process Wednesday to select a commander who
   can serve as a central figure to better organize the various forces
   fighting Islamic State militants.

   U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Joseph Dunford said during
   Tuesday during a visit to Iraq that the U.S.-led coalition needs one
   person who can speak with authority on the ground campaign in order to
   provide better support.

   While the coalition has been carrying out airstrikes, a collection of
   fighters from Iraq's army, Shi'ite militias, Sunni tribesman and
   Kurdish forces have all been battling the militants in various parts of
   Iraq with different levels of success.  Overall, the Islamic State
   group has held onto much of the territory it seized more than a year
   ago.

   Dunford said he would not describe the situation in Iraq as a stalemate
   and would not be discussing specific timelines for the campaign.

   One recent gain was in the key oil refinery town of Beiji, north of
   Baghdad, where U.S. and Iraqi military officials said Iraqi forces
   retook "full control" after more than a year of fighting.

   U.S. military spokesman Major Mike Filanowski, speaking Tuesday in
   Baghdad, said 15,000 Iraqi troops and paramilitaries held Beiji and
   were and driving pockets of enemy fighters from the area.

   Footage aired on Iraqi television showed Iraqi troops waving flags from
   rooftops in the town, which was overrun by IS fighters in June 2014.

   In addition to talks with Iraqi government leaders, Dunford also met
   with the head of Iraq's Kurdistan region, President Massoud Barzani, as
   part of his trip to assess the fight against Islamic State militants.

   Dunford told Barzani the United States and the Kurds "have a common
   enemy."
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   nder-for-battle-against-is/3016424.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/iraqi-leaders-discussing-single-commander-for-battle-against-is/3016424.html