Off the wire
• Urgent: U.S. defense chief in Baghdad on unannounced visit: TV  • Man sentenced to five years over factory collapse in E. China  • Foreign exchange rates in India  • 1st LD: Iraqi forces recapture town from IS as troops push on Mosul  • Xinhua Insight: At Palace Museum, the world mulls heritage protection  • DPR Korea wins women's U17 World Cup  • Morocco, India to build USD 230 mln fertilizer plant in India  • Urgent: Iraqi forces recapture town from IS as troops push on Mosul  • Myanmar president to pay state visit to Vietnam  • Commentary: U.S. election falls to new low in third debate  
You are here: 　 Home

1st LD: U.S. defense chief in Baghdad on unannounced visit: TV

Xinhua, October 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter arrived here on an unannounced visit to meet with Iraqi leaders as the Iraqi forces are fighting to defeat the Islamic State (IS) militants from their last major stronghold in Iraq, al-Arabiyah television reported on Saturday.

Carter is expected to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and other top officials and military commanders to discuss the Iraqi offensive against the extremist IS group in Mosul, the channel said.

Hundreds of U.S. troops are already in Iraq, serving as trainers and advisers, in an attempt to help the country win the battle against IS militants in the country's northern city of Mosul.

The U.S.-led international coalition has also been conducting air raids against IS targets in both Iraq and Syria.

Carter's visit came as the Iraqi security forces backed by anti-IS international coalition are carrying out a major offensive to drive out the IS militants from its last major stronghold in and around Mosul in northern Iraq.

On Oct. 17, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is also the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces, announced the start of a major offensive to retake Mosul, the country's second largest city.

Mosul, some 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when Iraqi government forces abandoned their weapons and fled. Endit