The White House said on Wednesday that it has seen reports of attacks on a base in northern Iraq.
Advertisement
Four Turkish soldiers were wounded Wednesday when Islamic State (IS) jihadists fired mortars on a training camp near the Iraqi city of Mosul, Turkish officials said.
Government-owned Iraqi media said that Carter would discuss the campaign with Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi.
Details of the plan have not been disclosed, and USA officials haven’t said when they may deploy to Iraq.
There are around 3,500 United States troops still stationed in the country but defence chiefs at the Pentagon hope America’s allies and Iraqi troops will start to take the lead in the fight against the fanatical Islamists.
But major population centers remain in Islamic State hands, including the Syrian city of Raqqa, allowing the group to maintain a revenue base and possibly plan attacks outside its territory.
“Soldiers of the caliphate were able to launch 200 Grad rockets”, the statement said in reference to the Islamic “caliphate” the jihadist group has declared in parts of Iraq and Syria.
President Barack Obama sent Defense Secretary Ash Carter on an unannounced visit to Iraq Wednesday.
In Syria, earlier efforts to train rebels stumbled and the United States has instead opted to support Kurdish and Syrian Arab groups with a mix of ammunition drops and air strikes. Citing threats from IS, Turkey recently sent an unspecified number of reinforcements to the camp, sparking an uproar in Baghdad. Biden welcomed that initial withdrawal, but insisted it must continue.
Turkey withdrew some troops earlier this week and moved them to another base inside Iraq’s Kurdistan region, but Baghdad said they should pull out completely.
Following his meeting with Abadi, Carter told reporters that the U.S.is willing to do more to help the Iraqis fight, but that the US strongly respects Iraqi sovereignty.
Advertisement
The Iraqi security forces, the Kurdish government forces known as the Peshmerga, the Sunni tribes and the popular mobilization troops are at times at odds as they try to battle IS.
