Carter visits Kurdish troops in Erbil, Iraq

ERBIL, Iraq, July 24 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter arrived in Erbil, Iraq, Friday, to consult with Kurdish military leaders in fighting the Islamic State.

Carter is on a Middle East mission to inform allies about the nuclear agreement with Iran, but arrived in Baghdad Thursday from Jordan to encourage U.S. troops. He then traveled to the Kurdish capital of Erbil, in northeastern Iraq, for insights into how Kurdish troops, known as Peshmerga, have effectively fought IS forces in Iraq. He is meeting with Kurdish regional government President Masoud Barzani and other Kurdish leaders.

In Erbil, Carter spoke of the July 11 death in an airstrike of Abu Khalil al-Sudani, a senior al-Qaida leader, noting the U.S. would continue its involvement in fighting terrorism in the region.

The U.S. military has worked closely with the Kurds, offering training, advice and through the Iraqi government, arms. The Peshmerga has emerged as the only consistently effective fighting force capable of defeating IS in Iraq and Syria, and will be relied upon in a planned summer assault to recapture the city of Ramadi from IS.

"Eventually, when the conditions are right, we will transition into an assault to seize Ramadi," Pentagon spokesman Rick Warren, traveling with Carter, said Thursday.

Warren added the assault would occur when the Iraqi army, whose capability Carter has criticized in the past, finishes its preparations for the mission. Shia militias will also be involved, Warren said.