US defence secretary makes unannounced visit to Iraq

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has made an unannounced go to to the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, simply days earlier than the twentieth anniversary of the US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.

Austin was greeted on Tuesday on landing in Baghdad by Major General Matthew McFarlane, the US commander in Iraq. 

The protection secretary is predicted to fulfill prime officers throughout his go to to Iraq, which is residence to a whole bunch of American troops.

“I’m here to reaffirm the US-Iraq strategic partnership as we move toward a more secure, stable, and sovereign Iraq,” Austin tweeted upon his arrival.

Austin’s go to comes after he held talks in neighbouring Jordan with King Abdullah II, a staunch US ally within the area.

“Secretary Austin shared his concerns on a range of shared challenges, including… maintaining focus on security and stability in Iraq and countering other destabilising activities in the region,” a Pentagon assertion stated.

READ MORE: Afghanistan to Iraq: How US invasions make Americans wealthy

Daesh assaults proceed

Since the US-led invasion in 2003 that eliminated longtime dictator Saddam from energy, Iraq has been a degree of friction between the United States and Iran.

Tehran has broadly expanded its affect in Iraq over the previous 20 years.

Despite their defeat in Iraq in 2017, Daesh militants and their sleeper cells are nonetheless launching assaults within the nation, in addition to in neighboring Syria. 

Daesh has killed and wounded dozens of Iraqi troops over the previous months. 

The US has been urging international locations world wide to repatriate their residents from al Hol camp in northeast Syria, which holds tens of hundreds of principally ladies and youngsters linked to Daesh. The overwhelming majority of them are Iraqis and Syrians.

Iraq has repatriated greater than 500 ladies and youngsters from al Hol over the previous weeks.

READ MORE:
The whitewashing of Syria’s Al Hol camp

Source: AP