Jane Onyanga-Omara

USA TODAY

Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, is visiting Iraq on an unannounced trip.

Kushner, who is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka and is a senior adviser to the president, is in the Middle Eastern country with Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Dunford invited Kushner and Thomas P. Bossert, Trump's assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism, on the visit to meet with Iraqi leaders and senior U.S. advisers and visit U.S. troops to get an update on the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, said Capt. Greg Hicks, Dunford's spokesman. He said it is the first trip to Iraq for both Kushner and Bossert,

"As well as receiving briefings and updates, Mr. Kushner is traveling on behalf of the President to express the President’s support and commitment to the Government of Iraq and U.S. personnel currently engaged in the campaign," Hicks said in a statement.

"Mr. Bossert is traveling in his role as Assistant to the President and will participate in meetings and briefings to reinforce the strong U.S.-Iraqi partnership to defeat ISIS," he added.

Kushner, 36, who has no previous government experience, has a portfolio including acting as the Trump administration's point person on Mideast peace.

The visit came as U.S.-backed Iraqi forces fighting to liberate Mosul from the Islamic State suffered heavy casualties in the deadliest urban conflict since World War II, according to U.S. officials.

Gen. Joseph Votel, the head of U.S. Central Command, said last week that 774 Iraqi troops were killed and 4,600 wounded since the Mosul offensive began in October. Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, is the militants’ last major stronghold in Iraq.

Last week, NBC reported that about 275 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division, based in Fort Bragg, N.C., have been ordered to deploy to northern Iraq to support U.S. forces assisting the Iraqi military.

Contributing: Jim Michaels

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