USA calls on Turkey to pull forces from Iraq

“This is a very complex environment that we’re operating in and we have to be attentive to some of the political realities that surround us every single day”, said Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, top USA military commander for the Islamic State fight.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Wednesday’s fighting demonstrated it had been right to send additional forces to protect its personnel: “This attack showed how legitimate our concerns were about the security of Bashiqa camp”, it said.

The attack came amid a dispute between Turkey and Iraq over Ankara’s recent move to send reinforcements for its trainers at the camp. In addition, a number of Iraqi MPs demanded from the authorities to launch a military operation against the Turkish troops.

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

She noted that 12 A-10 ground-attack planes remained at Incirlik, along with drones, Turkish F-16s and other aircraft from the US-led coalition, which has been bombing IS targets in Iraq and Syria for about 16 months.

The United States has said it is willing to deploy advisers and attack helicopters to help Iraq retake Ramadi, west of Baghdad.

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.

Demanding that Ankara withdraw its troops within 48 hours, the Iraqi government urged North Atlantic Treaty Organisation to get involved, saying that it was the alliance’s responsibility to “use its authority to urge Turkey to withdraw immediately”.

Army Col. Steve Warren acknowledged that many Iraqis “don’t agree with the American presence in this country”, but added that the Apache helicopters would not be used until requested by Baghdad.

Details of the plan have not been disclosed, and USA officials haven’t said when they may deploy to Iraq.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter traveled to Iraq Wednesday on an unannounced war zone visit to find new ways to hasten the destruction of the Islamic State group.

At the start of a meeting with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Carter said the USA wants to help Iraq as it fights against IS in Ramadi and then later in Mosul. A key USA priority is for Turkey to finally close a stretch of its border with Syria that ISIL controls on the Syrian side, denying the extremist group a crucial corridor for funneling foreign fighters into Syria.