US Vice President Mike Pence Makes Unannounced Visit To Iraq

US Vice President Mike Pence made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Saturday to reassure Iraqi Kurds of US military support.

Mr Pence is the highest-level American to visit the country since US President Donald Trump pulled US forces out of Syria.

After flying into Erbil, Iraq, Mr Pence met with the President of the Kurdistan region in Iraq and is believed to have had a phone call with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi.

Mr Pence, along with his wife, also visited US troops and served them a traditional meal ahead of next Thursday Thanksgiving Holiday in the United States.

Mr Pence's trip marks his second visit to the region in five weeks.

There are currently around 5,000 US troops stationed in Iraq, after the deployment in 2014 to defeat the Islamic State group (IS).

Last month Turkey launched an offensive into northeastern Syria, following Mr Trump's decision to withdraw US troops from the country.

They were allied to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces for five years - they fought together to bring down IS in Syria.

Mr Pence brokered a pause with Ankara to allow time for Kurdish fighters to withdraw.

Despite a US and Russia-negotiated ceasefire, fighting in different parts of northeast Syria continues, as Turkey-backed fighters advance on areas more than 20 miles south of the border.

On Saturday, at least three people died and more than 20 were wounded after a car bomb exploded in a Turkey-controlled Syrian town, Tal Abyad.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said the Turkish fighters launched attacks with tanks and artillery on a number of points in Ein Issa, attempting to invade it. "The ceasefire is once again violated by the Turkish army," the SDF said in a tweet.