A U.S. military official who briefed news media about Iraq's upcoming offensive to retake Mosul provided inaccurate information but should never have publicly discussed war plans anyway, Defence Secretary Ash Carter said on Tuesday.
Carter's criticism of the February news briefing by an official from the U.S. military's Central Command was accompanied by an assurance from the top U.S. military officer to Congress that the matter was subject to an internal inquiry.
"That clearly was neither accurate information, nor had it been accurate, would have it been information that should have been blurted out to the press. So it's wrong on both scores," Carter, who took over as defence secretary in February, told a hearing by the Senate Armed Services Committee.
U.S. officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, have since suggested that timing could slip to the fall.
Carter described the briefing about the Mosul offensive as "an instance of speculation." He declined to offer a timeline, saying Iraqi forces would go into Mosul when they were ready.
SpaceX Polaris Dawn Crew Makes History With First-Ever Private Spacewalk Duleep Trophy: Focus On Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar In Round Two Pact Signed For Positioning Of Indian Officers At Key US Commands: Rajnath Singh 9 Dead, 2,800 Hurt As Pagers Explode Across Lebanon, Hezbollah Blames Israel 'Pager Bombs' Target Hezbollah In Lebanon. What We Know So Far - 5 Points IndiGo Flight Tailstrike Leaves Huge Dent During Take-Off From Delhi Airport Air India To Give $400 Million Makeover To Over Half Of Its Fleet Nitin Gadkari Hints At Next Big Idea For Road Building In Monsoons US Rapper Sean 'Diddy' Combs Charged With Racketeering, Sex Trafficking Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.