Carter in Iraq Seeking New Ways to Fight ISIS

One of the Turkish troops was seriously wounded but his life is not in danger, it added.

The US Defense Secretary is also believed to talk to Iraqi Prime Minster Haider al-Abadi about the US use of Apache helicopters against ISIS.

The official says the four wounded soldiers were evacuated to Turkey and were in “stable condition”.

“We were talking about the opportunities that will arise in the future to increase the American contribution to Iraqi success here”, Carter told reporters.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was briefed about the clashes by the Turkish General Staff, sources said.

Relations between Ankara and Baghdad began to unravel following Turkey’s December 4 deployment of about 150 soldiers backed by artillery and around 25 tanks to Camp Bashiqa, a base near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul that is controlled by IS.

The reported mortar attack, which lasted three hours, targeted the Gudad military base in the town of Bashika, in Iraq’s Mosul province, former Mosul Governor Atheel Nojaifi stated, according to Kurdish news agency Rudaw, which said two Iraqis were killed during the firing of up to 60 mortar rounds. Iraq Foreign Ministry summoned Ambassador of Turkey to Iraq and demanded that Turkey must immediately take out its forces from the northern regions of the country. Though the U.S. generally backs Turkey, a fellow North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member, in all things, concerns about the weakening Abadi government may force them to back Iraq in this case.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter has traveled to Iraq on an unannounced visit with directions from President Barack Obama to find new ways to hasten the destruction of the Islamic State group.

Vice President Joe Biden is calling on Turkey to withdraw any military forces that Iraq’s government hasn’t authorized.

Carter’s visit here, his third stop on an end-of-year Middle East tour, comes as Iraqi forces seek to push deeper into Ramadi, the capital of western Anbar province, which has been in the grip of Islamic State fighters since May.

Since Baghdad lodged its protest, Turkey has halted additional deployments and pulled out an unspecified number of the troops it had recently sent to bolster its ranks at the camp. Biden welcomed that initial withdrawal, but insisted it must continue. A key US priority is for Turkey to finally close a stretch of its border with Syria that IS controls on the Syrian side, denying the extremist group a crucial corridor for funneling foreign fighters into Syria.