Mar 20, 2017

President Donald Trump said the operation against the Islamic State group in Mosul is "moving along," as he hosted Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi at the White House on Monday.

In a meeting on the 14th anniversary of the US invasion, Trump questioned whether the United States should have pulled combat troops out of the country.

"We should never ever have left," he said, after previously having supported the withdrawal.

"We will figure something out. I mean we have to get rid of ISIS," he added, using an alternate acronym for the IS group. "We're going to get rid of ISIS."

The Iraqi authorities launched an offensive in October to retake the northern city of Mosul from the IS group with the support of US-led coalition air strikes.