US Defense Chief in Iraq to Discuss Islamic State Fight | WPN World People News

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is in Iraq to meet with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and American commanders, four months after the U.S. launched a campaign of airstrikes against Islamic State militants.

After arriving on an unannounced visit Tuesday to Baghdad, Hagel said Iraqi forces have gained a "new momentum" in their effort to reclaim territory that the Islamic State group seized in northern and western Iraq earlier this year.

The U.S.-led coalition has carried out more than 600 airstrikes in Iraq since early August to try to help the Iraqi troops. Another 500 airstrikes have targeted Islamic State fighters in neighboring Syria.

President Barack Obama has approved sending as many as 3,100 troops to Iraq to provide training and advice.

The commander of the U.S.-led coalition, Army Lieutenant General James Terry, said Monday that coalition partners have also promised to send 1,500 military advisers.

He said the Islamic State group is on the defensive and trying to hold onto the parts of Iraq it controls. But he said the militants are still able to carry out attacks.

Source: Voice of America