Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said Iraq does not need foreign ground troops to fight ISIL takfiri group, after Washington announced it would deploy special forces for that purpose.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said Iraq does not need foreign ground troops to fight the so-called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) takfiri group, after Washington announced it would deploy special forces for that purpose.

"There is no need for foreign ground combat forces in Iraqi territory," Abadi said in a statement released late Tuesday.

"The Iraqi government stresses that any military operation or presence of any foreign force, special or not, in any place in Iraq cannot be done without its approval and coordination with it," the statement said.

US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said Tuesday that his country was deploying a "specialized expeditionary targeting force" to Iraq to work alongside local forces against ISIL.

Though the new troops will be based in Iraq, they will have the ability to conduct raids across the border in northern Syria.

"These special operators will over time be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence, and capture (ISIL) leaders," Carter said.

US President Barack Obama had repeatedly pledged that there would be no "boots on the ground" to fight against ISIL, but US special forces have already conducted raids against the extremists in Syria and Iraq, and more are set to follow the new deployment.

A US-led coalition has been carrying out air strikes against ISIL in Iraq since August 2014, and has also provided arms and training to forces in the country, but deploying forces with a specific combat mission ups its involvement in the conflict.

Abadi's remarks about the deployment of ground combat forces came a day after he said that Iraq has enough forces to defeat ISIL, an apparent response to a proposal by US senators to triple the number of American forces in the country.