The powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Sunday instructed his followers to attack US troops in Iraq as part of Washington's military campaign against the Islamic State.
The United States Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said Monday that the Pentagon will deploy another 560 troops to help Iraqi forces to regain the northern city of Mosul.
Sadr, who gained notoriety due to his Mahdi Army fighting against Washington's forces after the 2003 invasion, comments published on its official website after a follower asked him a response to the US announcement.
"They are a target for us," said the cleric, without elaborating.
The new deployment of US troops, which would occur in the coming weeks, would increase the number of troops in that country in Iraq to about 4,650, a tiny figure compared to the 170,000 soldiers deployed at the peak of the occupation that lasted nearly nine years . Reuters