US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis has arrived in Iraq, just days after the start of an offensive to take back the city of Tal Afar, to speak with Iraqi leaders about the next steps in the fight against Islamic State.
Mattis has warned that the end of the militant group is far from close. Iraqi security forces launched an offensive to take back the city of Tal Afar on Sunday, their latest objective in the US-backed campaign to defeat Islamic State militants, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said.
A long-time stronghold of hardline Sunni Muslim insurgents, Tal Afar, 80km west of Mosul in Iraq's far north, has experienced cycles of sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shi'ite Muslims.
"ISIS' days are certainly numbered, but it is not over yet and it is not going to be over anytime soon," Mattis told reporters in Amman.
Mattis said after retaking Tal Afar, Iraqi forces would move against the western Euphrates river valley. He added that Iraqi security forces were capable of carrying out simultaneous operations.
Brett McGurk, the US special envoy to the coalition against Islamic State, told reporters that while the battle for Tal Afar would be difficult, Iraqi forces had retaken 235 square kilometres in the first 24 hours.
US officials said Mattis, who will meet Abadi and Defence Minister Arfan al-Hayali, would discuss the future of US forces in Iraq after the fall of the remaining cities under Islamic State and the role they could play in stabilising operations.
The officials said while major cities like Mosul have been largely been cleared of Islamic State militants, there were concerns about the ability of Iraqi forces to hold territory.
Mattis said pockets of resistance remained in west Mosul, including sleeper cells, and attention would be turned after they were cleared.
"It is not going to happen overnight... it is going to be a heavy lift for them going forward, but the proper governance would involve local representation in their day to day lives," he said.
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