New U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter will hold talks on Monday in Kuwait with top U.S. commanders and diplomats on U.S. efforts to fight the Islamic State group.
Carter flew to Kuwait City from Afghanistan to chair the meeting at the U.S. Army base of Camp Arifjan. In addition to military officers, U.S. ambassadors from Jordan and elsewhere in the Middle East will participate in the talks.
Officials say the meeting is not expected to produce a new strategy to fight the Islamic State, but to allow Carter to better understand the range of efforts being pursued to defeat the militant group.
On Sunday, Carter visited southern Afghanistan to review plans to withdraw U.S. troops from the country within two years. He met with U.S. soldiers at the American base in Kandahar and received briefings on the status of coalition efforts to train, advise and assist Afghan forces.