Politics
18:12, 22-Aug-2017
US defense secretary arrives in Iraq on unannounced visit to meet Iraqi leaders
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US Defense Secretary James Mattis arrived in Iraq Tuesday on an unannounced visit, just days after Iraqi start of an offensive to take back the city of Tal Afar. Mattis will meet Iraqi leaders to decide over the next steps in the fight against ISIL, the Iraqi official television reported.
Mattis is expected to meet top Iraqi officials and military commanders to discuss bilateral relations and the offensive against the ISIL group in the town of Tal Afar, the state-run Iraqi channel said without giving further details.
US Defense Secretary James Mattis arrives at a meeting of the coalition to defeat the ISIL group at the State Department in Washington, DC, on March 22, 2017. /AFP Photo
US Defense Secretary James Mattis arrives at a meeting of the coalition to defeat the ISIL group at the State Department in Washington, DC, on March 22, 2017. /AFP Photo
Mattis has warned that the end of the militant group is far from close. Iraqi security forces launched an offensive to take back the city of Tal Afar on Sunday, their latest objective in the US-backed campaign to defeat ISIL militants, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said.
Hundreds of US troops are already in Iraq, serving as trainers and advisers, in an attempt to help the country win the battle against ISIL militants in the country's northern province of Nineveh, where Tal Afar is located.
The US-led international coalition has also been conducting air raids against ISIL targets in both Iraq and Syria.
A long-time stronghold of hardline Sunni Muslim insurgents, Tal Afar, 80 km (50 miles) west of Mosul in Iraq's far north, has experienced cycles of sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shi'ite Muslims.
Source(s): Reuters
,Xinhua News Agency