Baghdad, Dec 9 (IANS): US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel Tuesday arrived in Iraq's capital Baghdad on an unannounced visit to meet Iraqi leaders to discuss the battle against the Islamic State (IS) Sunni radical group.

Hagel is scheduled to discuss the campaign of the US-led coalition against the IS group with the leaders, including Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Xinhua reported citing the Iraqiya channel.

Hagel's visit is his first to Iraq since he took office in February 2013.

Nov 24, US President Barack Obama announced the resignation of Chuck Hagel as the country's defence secretary.

Hagel said that he would stay on the job until his successor Ashton Carter was confirmed by the Senate.

The security situation began to drastically deteriorate in Iraq June 10, when bloody clashes broke out between the Iraqi security forces and the IS group, who took control of the country's northern city of Mosul and later seized swathes of territory after Iraqi security forces abandoned their posts in Nineveh and other predominantly Sunni provinces.

The US sought to build a coalition of both world and regional countries to push back against the IS's quick expansion.

So far, the US-led coalition is continuing with airstrikes against the terror group in both Iraq and Syria.