US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter flew to Baghdad Wednesday for talks on progress in the war against the Takfiri group, ISIL (so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Levant) an official said.

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter flew to Baghdad Wednesday for talks on progress in the war against the Takfiri group, ISIL (so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Levant) an official said.

Carter, who on Tuesday visited a Turkish base that has allegedly become a key hub for air raids against the insurgents, arrived in the Iraqi capital on Wednesday morning.

He was due to leave Iraq the same day after meeting Iraqi leaders and partners in the US-led anti-ISIL coalition, an official said on condition of anonymity.

Out of the 11 strikes conducted by the coalition on Tuesday in Iraq, five were on targets in the area of Ramadi, which Iraqi forces are trying to wrest back from ISIL, according to a US military statement.

President Barack Obama said on Monday the US and its allies were hitting ISIL "harder than ever" and warned the extremists' leaders: "You are next."