US quietly increasing intelligence agents in Iraq: Report

US government sources say the United States is surreptitiously increasing the number of intelligence agents in Iraq.

According to Press TV citing Reuters on Friday, the American intelligence surge in the Arab country is meant to counter the resurgence of al-Qaeda-linked militancy.

American intelligence officials are also holding emergency meetings in Washington and Baghdad to find ways to counter the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), according to two current government officials and one former US official.

A British defense study, published in September 2013, showed that thousands of ISIL extremists are also active in neighboring Syria, where the United States and its regional allies, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, are supporting the militants fighting against the government and people.