Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said in a briefing this week that cyberattacks will be used to assist Iraqi and Kurd forces to recapture the city of Mosul. It is the first time the U.S. military has openly revealed details of its electronic warfare efforts against ISIS.

Cyberattacks are being used in Mosul to disrupt communications and critical infrastructure in the city, according to the briefing.

Carter said the attacks aim to “interrupt [ISIS’s] command and control, to cause them to lose confidence in their networks, to overload their networks so they can’t function, and to do all of these things that will interrupt their ability to command and control forces there, control the population and the economy.”

Much of the telecommunications infrastructure in Mosul and Iraq was put in place by the U.S. following the 2003 Iraq war, potentially making the job of hacking it easier. Carter did not give specific details about what methods would be used.