Australian leader Scott Morrison visits troops in Iraq

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has made a pre-Christmas visit to hundreds of troops in Iraq, telling them he wanted to say thank you from “one Australian to another.”

But Morrison canceled a planned visit to Afghanistan on the advice of the defense force chief due to operational security reasons.

Morrison traveled to Iraq on Wednesday to meet special forces soldiers and other Australian military personnel who are training the Iraqi Army to combat the Islamic State group.

It was the conservative prime minister’s first visit to the Middle East since he took the top job in August.

He told the troops that he understood it was a sacrifice to be away from their families at this time of year.