Four Turkish soldiers injured in Islamic State attack

Britain’s foreign minister says there have been no reports of civilian casualties from United Kingdom airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq or Syria.

The jets flew training missions with Turkey’s air force and Davis noted that Turkey and the United States also reached an agreement during the deployment outlining procedures for carrying out combat air patrols in the future.

But he stressed that all US action in Iraq would be done with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s approval, respecting Iraqi sovereignty.

Iraqi Kurdish officials said the shelling in the Bashiqa area was part of a multi-pronged attack by IS attempting to break through lines held by peshmerga forces in several separate areas around Mosul. Abadi has demanded that Turkish troops immediately withdraw from Iraq’s territory.

Militants of the “Islamic State” terrorist organization have shelled the camp of Turkish troops deployed in northern Iraq.

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

Baghdad has insisted the Turkish troops were not invited and must leave, but Turkey insists that reinforcements were needed because the troops were in danger of coming under fire from IS strongholds nearby.

Carter was to talk with his commanders, including Lt. Gen. Sean McFarland who is heading the fight against IS, and Iraqis about the new US plan to deploy a new special commando force to Iraq. Kurdish forces last month retook the town of Sinjar from ISIL, cutting the main road between Mosul and Raqqa.

But the deployment outraged the central Iraqi government in Baghdad, which bitterly complained to Ankara and said it would take the issue to the UN Security Council.

More than 1,000 fighters were receiving training at the camp when it came under attack.

Many Iraqis “don’t agree with the American presence in this country”, said Warren.

In September, Iraq had appointed a new envoy to Saudi Arabia in an effort to normalize relations between the two nations. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that Ankara was trying to protect Iraq’s territorial integrity more than anyone else. Thousands of Shiite militiamen and supporters have joined rallies demanding Turkey’s full withdrawal, chanting, “No to occupation”. But Abadi has resisted, arguing foreign forces aren’t needed to fight IS in Iraq.

US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday in an unannounced visit, senior sources told Anadolu Agency.

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.

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.

“We need to examine how a member of the US-led coalition – the Republic of Turkey – performs goals set by the coalition”, Lavrov said.