An additional 130 military personnel is sent to Iraq by the Obama administration, as reported by the American Defense Secretary.

Speaking to American conscripts in California, Chuck Hagel said that about 130 military advisers arrived in the region around the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, Arbil, on Tuesday.

In a statement issued while Hagel gave his California speech, an American official of the Defense Ministry mentioned that military advisers were sent to northern Iraq to “Assess the extent of the humanitarian mission and will be seeking to develop additional options besides aerial support for displaced Iraqi civilians who are trapped in the Siniar mountains”.

The additional 130 soldiers will strengthen the already existing 300 American military advisers that President Obama sent to Iraq last June to support the Iraqi government in its fight against the Islamic State.

Meanwhile, a suicide attack at a checkpoint near the home of the new Iraqi PM occurred in Baghdad, as sources claim.

“The suicide bomber blew himself up at a checkpoint leading to the home of the prime minister”, said one of the police sources.

No information is available about possible casualties from the attack.