IS Attack Kills Iraqi Troops, Wounds Turkish Trainers

The United States has called on Turkey to pull “unauthorized” troops from Iraq, aiming to defuse a dispute that has rankled relations between two countries central to the fight against the radical terrorist Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Carter is likely to talk to commanders and Iraqis about the new USA plan to deploy a new special commando force to Iraq.

In recent days, Iraqi forces have retaken parts of Ramadi in what US officials describe as a slow and deliberate attempt to penetrate laden with militant defenses.

The Iraqi leader, who heads a fractured government that remains deeply suspicious of USA intentions, declined deeper American involvement for now, Carter told reporters after the meeting.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter was on Wednesday hoping to discuss with Iraqi officials Washington’s offer of attack helicopters and advisers to help retake the city of Ramadi as part of an intensified fight against Islamic State.

Jabbar Yawar, secretary general of the Kurdish peshmerga forces that control the area where the Turkish forces have deployed said ten tanks had been moved from the camp to another existing Turkish base within the autonomous Kurdistan region. Since he took power over a year ago, the Iraqi leader also has had to balance assistance from Iraq’s allies, including the United States and Iran, and ensure that he is not seen as too reliant on the West.

The 12 US Air Force F-15 Eagles and Strike Eagles will return to the RAF Lakenheath base in England.

Asked Tuesday about the USA request, von der Leyen told public broadcaster ARD that “I’m going to write back and say, of course, we’re on your side, you know that, in the fight against the Islamic State”.

The U.S. and Russian Federation are expected to present a resolution to the U.N. Security Council on Friday.

“Coalition aircraft operating from Incirlik are expected to increase and continue to increase in the coming months”, European Command said in a statement. The Iraqi government says they are not welcome and must withdraw.

Exact details of the US plan to defeat ISIS in Iraq had not been released and Pentagon officials have not said what additional assets they want to commit to the mission.

Any U.S. military support must be consistent with Iraqi requests and their style of fighting, MacFarland said.

Carter’s trip had been planned for some time, but on Monday during a Pentagon visit, President Barack Obama vowed to accelerate the campaign against IS, lending more urgency to the visit.