IRBIL, Iraq (AP) – U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter arrived Sunday in Irbil to get a closer look at the fight against Islamic State militants in northern Iraq and likely expand his discussions about the role of Turkish troops in the region.
Carter is expected to meet with Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, as well as military commanders who are not far from the battle to retake the northern city of Mosul from IS.
Carter spent the day Saturday in Baghdad getting updates from his top military leadership and meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. He said the U.S. is prepared to provide additional support for the fight if requested by Iraq and U.S. commanders.
Iraqi Kurdish forces, known as peshmerga, have been advancing toward Mosul from the north, moving in long columns of armored vehicles. More than 100 U.S. special operations forces are embedded with the Kurds and Iraqi military commandos.
Mosul, however, is a Sunni majority town, and many worry about the involvement of government-sanctioned Shiite fighters. But they are also suspicious of the Kurds, who have ambitions to expand their self-rule area into parts of Ninevah province, where Mosul is located – although not to the city itself.