US to spend $7.5 billion to fight Islamic State: Pentagon chief

Washington: The United States will spend $7.5 billion -- a 50 percent increase -- to fund the fight against the Islamic State group, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Tuesday.

"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."