City
Epaper

Esper arrives in Baghdad as Iraq denies US troops' stay

By IANS | Updated: October 23, 2019 16:10 IST

US Defence Secretary Mark Esper on Wednesday made a surprise visit to Baghdad, two days after a convoy of US troops withdrawing from Syria crossed into Iraqi Kurdistan.

Open in App

A government source said that Esper held an early morning meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Najah al-Shammari at the headquarters of the Iraqi ministry of defence to discuss joint action to combat the Islamic State terror organisation, Efe news reported.

The US official is scheduled to meet with the troops that entered the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region on Monday.

On Tuesday, the Iraqi military said the US troops leaving Syria amid the Turkish offensive were not permitted to stay in Iraq and would later be transferred outside the country.

The Russian military police and Syrian regime border guards agreed Tuesday to clear the Syrian People's Protection Units (YPG) from the 30-kilometer deep buffer zone sought by Ankara within a period of 150 hours.

The Russia-Turkey pact came a few hours before the expiry of a five-day ceasefire agreed on 17 October in Ankara with a US delegation.

Turkey launched an offensive in the northeastern Syrian border on 9 October shortly after the US President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the remaining troops from the region.

Ankara considers the YPG to be a terror group indistinguishable from the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), a guerrilla group widely listed as a terror organization that has fought the Turkish state in the country's predominantly Kurdish east for decades.

( With inputs from IANS )

Tags: SyriausIraqAnkara
Open in App

Related Stories

NationalFlorida Plane Crash: 2 Killed After Small Aircraft Crashes in Coral Springs Lake (Watch Video)

InternationalFung Wong Live Tracker Map: Tropical Storm Triggers Flash Floods Across Guam; Check Real-Time Status Here

InternationalNew York: 7 Firefighters Injured in Car Blast in The Bronx (Watch Video)

InternationalLouisville Plane Crash: 7 Killed, 11 Injured After UPS Cargo Flight Crashes Near Airport in Kentucky; Videos Surface

BusinessUS Visa Medical in Pakistan: How to Book Your Appointment Fast & Stress-Free

International Realted Stories

International"Verdict is part of political vendetta...": Former Indian envoy to Bangladesh reacts to verdict on Sheikh Hasina

InternationalEAM Jaishankar reviews preparations for 23rd Annual India-Russia Summit

InternationalAbhishek Singh, India's High Commissioner to Nigeria, concurrently accredited as Permanent Representative to ECOWAS

InternationalMEA cautions against job fraud cases as Iran suspends visa-free access for Indians

InternationalIndia-Russia ties a factor of stability in international relations: Jaishankar