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. Iraqi Kurdish forces, known as peshmerga, have been advancing toward Mosul from the north, moving in long columns of armored vehicles. Some 500 Turkish troops at a base north of Mosul have been training Sunni and Kurdish fighters since last December. Carter and other military leaders have praised the progress of the Iraqi forces in the fight, saying the battle is proceeding according to plan. The Islamic State group captured Mosul and the surrounding area during a lightning advance across northern Iraq in the summer of 2014.

Source: Fox News October 23, 2016 07:30 UTC