U.S. to increase anti-IS funds 50% to $7.5 billion: Pentagon

PanARMENIAN.Net - The United States will spend $7.5 billion - a 50% increase - to fund the fight against the Islamic State group, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Tuesday, February 2, according to AFP.

"Because we are accelerating the campaign, (the Pentagon) is backing that up in our budget with a total of $7.5 billion dollars in 2017, 50 percent more than 2016," Carter said in a speech in Washington.

"This will be critical as our updated coalition military campaign plan takes hold."

Carter also announced the United States will spend $3.4 billion next year to counter "Russia's aggression" and boost the U.S. presence in eastern European nations.

"We're reinforcing our posture in Europe to support our NATO allies in the face of Russia's aggression," Carter said, noting that the $3.4 billion was a quadrupling of funds from last year.

"That'll fund a lot of things. More rotational U.S. forces in Europe, more training and exercises with our allies, more prepositioned warfighting gear, and infrastructure improvements to support it."