United States calls on Turkey to pull troops out of Iraq

The secretary has taken opportunities to meet with Iraqi leaders and thank US and coalition troops for their service, especially during the holiday season. Carter said the US wants Turkey to better control its border with Syria, which could help block the flow of foreign fighters to the Islamic State group, and to more forcefully join the U.S.-led coalition “in the air and on the ground”.

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

Turkey’s military said the camp was hit by Katyusha rockets fired by IS militants during a battle with Iraq’s Kurdish peshmerga fighters.

President Obama has sent about 3,500 trainers and advisors to Iraq since mid-2014 to assist Iraqi and Kurdish forces.

“This was the hardest punch Isil [IS] had thrown since this summer, and the Peshmerga defeated them”, said Col Steve Warren, a U.S. military spokesman, according to the Washington Post.

It is just a matter of time before the Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh in Arabic) terrorist group is defeated by the Iraqi army, Australia’s chief of joint operations, Vice Adm. David Johnston, said Friday.

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

The flare-up between Iraq and Turkey has hardened into an unwelcome distraction for the USA, which is working to persuade Turkey to step up its fight against IS while escalating its own military efforts against the extremist group.

“I wouldn’t read anything into us moving these out of there as any sort of less combat capability … to be able to strike in Syria”, Davis said.

Iraqi forces are making advances on the outskirts of the western city of Ramadi, liberating a number of neighborhoods and dislodging militants of Islamic State.

The bombings and attacks happened in villages north of the provincial capital, Ramadi, where Iraqi soldiers are based.

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

Ten thousand members of the Iraqi security forces surround Ramadi, but United States officials have expressed frustration at how long it has taken Iraqi security forces to take back the city. The Pentagon also stepped up deliveries of thousands of antitank missiles, vehicles and other military hardware.

Mr. Carter was to meet Thursday with the Kurdish president, Masoud Barzani, at his official residence.