US defense chief in Baghdad on unaccounced visit

US Defense Secretary Aston Carter arrived here Wednesday on an unannounced visit to meet with Iraqi leaders on fighting the Islamic State (IS) militant group, al-Arabiyah television reported.

Carter is due to discuss the campaign of the US-led coalition against the extremist IS group with the Iraqi leaders, including Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, the channel said.

Carter's visit is his second to Iraq as Pentagon chief since he took office in February.

His visit came as the Iraqi security forces were battling IS extremists in the city of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, where hundreds of US Marines as military trainers and advisers were stationed.

The security situation in Iraq has drastically deteriorated since June 2014, when bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and the IS militants.

The IS took control of the country's northern city of Mosul and later seized swathes of territories in Nineveh and other predominantly Sunni provinces.

A US-led international coalition has been conducting air strikes on IS targets in both Iraq and neighboring Syria.
  Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
16/12/15
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