File Photo: US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.
BAGHDAD: U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter arrived in Baghdad on Sunday for talks with Iraqi officials on the war against the Islamic State terrorist group.
Carter will meet Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and commanders of U.S. forces in Iraq to discuss an ongoing offensive to oust IS from the northern city of Mosul, a source with the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said on condition of anonymity because he was unauthorized to speak to the media.
It was not immediately clear how long Carter would stay in Baghdad.
In October, Carter visited Baghdad and the northern city of Erbil for talks on the anti-IS operations in Mosul.
The U.S. is leading an international coalition, which has been striking IS targets from the air -- in both Iraq and Syria -- since the terrorist group’s dramatic territorial gains in 2014.
In late October, the Iraqi army -- backed by U.S.-led coalition warplanes and local allies on the ground -- launched a major offensive to retake Mosul, the last IS stronghold in northern Iraq.
