US Department of Defense Austin makes an unannounced trip to Iraq ahead of the 20th anniversary of the invasion

On Tuesday, just days before the 20th anniversary of the US invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin paid an unannounced visit to the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

Austin was greeted on landing in Baghdad by Maj. Gen. Matthew McFarlane, US commander in Iraq.The defense secretary is expected to meet with senior officials during his visit to Iraq, where hundreds of U.S. troops are stationed helping fight the Islamic State militant group.

Ever since the US-led invasion of 2003 that toppled longtime dictator Saddam, Iraq has been a point of confrontation between the United States and Iran. Tehran has significantly expanded its influence in Iraq over the past 20 years.

Despite the defeat in Iraq in 2017, IS fighters and their sleeper cells continue to carry out attacks in the country and in neighboring Syria. The Islamic State has killed and wounded dozens of Iraqi soldiers in recent months. The United States is urging countries around the world to bring back their citizens from al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, where tens of thousands of women and children linked to ISIS are being held. The vast majority of them are Iraqis and Syrians.

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Iraq has repatriated more than 500 women and children from al-Hol in recent weeks.