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The United States top military officer said during an unannounced visit to the Iraqi capital of Baghdad and the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan on Saturday that the momentum in the battle with Islamic State (IS) militant group was "starting to turn", but predicted the campaign against the group would take several years.
Gen. Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the two reviewed the progress achieved by the Iraqi security forces in the battles against the terrorist IS militant group, a statement by Abadi's office said after the meeting.
Dempsey confirmed his country's adherence to provide arms, training and air support to the Iraqi forces, the statement said.
Later on, the top U.S. General met with the Iraqi Minister of Defense Khalid al-Obiedi, the defense ministry said without giving further details.
He also met with U.S. troops in the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and said that the U.S. military had Iraqi and Kurdish forces "pull Iraq back from the precipice."
"And now, I think it's starting to turn. So well done," he said addressing a group of Marines at the embassy.
In the afternoon, Dempsey flew to the city of Arbil, the capital of Kurdistan region in northern Iraq and held meetings with Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani, Prime Minister of Kurdistan Regional Government Nechirvan Barzani, and Peshmerga leaders.
An official statement by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), headed by President Barazani himself, said that Dempsey talked about the goals of his visit to Kurdistan region during his meeting with President Barzani, saying "I have come to Arbil to get closely acquainted with the conditions of the fronts, as well as listening to notes, tips and suggestions of President Barzani, about how to continue the strikes against the IS terrorists group. "
Dempsey also visited the U.S. Joint Operations Center in Arbil, some 350 km north of Baghdad, and received a briefing on the Kurdish offensive against IS extremist group.
Dempsey's visit comes about a week after President Barack Obama authorized the military to send up to 1,500 additional personnel to Iraq for training and assistance of Iraqi forces in the fight against the IS group.
His visit also came as the Iraqi security forces are achieving progress in different fronts of battles against the IS militants, including breaking months-long siege of the country's largest oil refinery in the northern central province of Salahudin.
"In the early morning hours, the security forces and allied tribal fighters took full control of the sprawling Baiji refinery after they secured the roads leading to the refinery buildings and met with those troops inside who have been fighting back the attacks of IS militants for more than five months," a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The army's armored vehicles deployed in the oil installation and started to expand to nearby areas, the source said.
Earlier, the security forces took control of the nearby town of Baiji, some 200 km north of Baghdad after fierce clashes with IS militants.
The capture of Baiji and nearby refinery would let the Iraqi security forces launch another major offensive to expel the IS militants from Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown and the capital of Salahudin province, which has been under the control of the extremist Sunni militants since June 11.
The security situation in Iraq began to drastically deteriorate in the country since June 10, when bloody clashes broke out between the Iraqi security forces and the IS group, who took control of the country's northern city of Mosul and later seized swathes of territories after Iraqi security forces abandoned their posts in Nineveh and other predominantly Sunni provinces.
Earlier, the U.S. sought to build a coalition of both world and regional countries to push back the IS's quick expansion. So far, the U.S.-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against the armed Islamist group in both Iraq and Syria. Enditem
