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US DEFENCE Secretary Ashton Carter paid a surprise visit to Iraq yesterday to oversee the country’s war against Islamic State (Isis).
His first stop on a one-day visit to the capital Baghdad was the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service Academy, where he told commanders: “Your forces have performed so very well, so very bravely. So it’s a privilege for us to be your partners.”
The US military still has some 3,360 troops in Iraq, three-and-a-half years after it officially withdrew from the country. They are training Iraqi troops, acting as “military advisers” to Iraqi commanders and guarding US personnel and facilities.
US air forces undertake daily air strikes on Isis forces in the north and west of the country, but Iraqi forces fight the militants on the ground.
Mr Carter’s visit took place a day after two car bombs exploded in separate areas of the capital, killing at least 26 people and wounding 58.
