NATO to expand anti-ISIS Med patrols

NATO will be expanding maritime patrols in the Mediterranean Sea, in response to the threat posed by the Islamic State group and the ongoing crisis in which migrants have fled from Iraq, Syria, Libya and other countries stricken with conflict.

General Curtis Scaparrotti, supreme allied commander of the military alliance, said NATO’s wors in the eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea in support of a European Union-led mission on migrant operations could be expanded to focus on areas near Libya and assisting the US-led effort campaign against the Islamic State in other ways.

Scaparrotti left the specifics open but said that the new mission could include counter-terrorism operations, maritime surveillance and working with partner forces in the area.

“We have prepared orders do those kinds of things with our NATO forces, and we’ll just get specific policy guidance and then put out the appropriate orders,” he said. “We will go to nations within NATO and either use the forces we have now or … if we need more go to countries that have those capabilities.”

Scaparrotti said he did not know yet whether the US would have a role in the new maritime mission, but it could involve both U.S. ships and aircraft. Presently, the USNS Grapple, a salvage ship, is deployed in the Aegean Sea for the migrant mission.