US President Joe Biden said on Monday that US forces in Iraq would end combat operations by the end of the year while continuing to train and support Iraqi forces.
“Our role in Iraq will… continue to train, aid, help and deal with the rise of ISIS (Islamic State), but we are not going to be in a combat mission until the end of the year. Xinhua news agency According to the report, Biden said at the beginning of a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in the Oval Office.
“Our counter-terrorism cooperation will continue even as we move into this new phase,” he said.
Al-Kadhimi told a major media outlet before the trip that there was no need for any foreign combat forces to remain in Iraq.
“What we want from the US presence in Iraq is to support our forces in training and developing their skills and capabilities, and in security cooperation,” he said.
There are now about 2,500 US troops in Iraq. The White House press secretary on Monday declined to provide the number of troops remaining in Iraq at the end of the year.
US media said the move could not significantly reduce the US military presence in Iraq, as most US troops in the country are already serving as training and mentoring for Iraqi forces.
The two countries agreed to move US troop missions back in April, but no deadline had been set for the transition at that time.
Analysts noted that the Iraqi leader faced mounting pressure at home from hardline Shiite factions, who all call for US troops to leave the country. This change in the mission of US troops could be seen as a political advantage for al-Kadhimi ahead of parliamentary elections in October.
US troops withdrew from Iraq in 2011, eight years after the US-led invasion. US troops returned to the country in 2014 to support Iraqi forces in the fight against Islamic State militants.
Soon after the deaths of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a US airstrike on Baghdad airport in January 2020, the Iraqi parliament passed a resolution calling on the government to end the presence of foreign forces in Iraq. was required.
Iraqi military bases housing US troops across the country and the US embassy in the Green Zone in central Baghdad have been frequently targeted by rocket and drone strikes by Iran-backed Shia militias.
US forces launched retaliatory airstrikes against Shiite militants in Syria and Iraq this February and June, only leading to a cycle of more strikes and retaliation.
Earlier this month, up to 14 rockets hit al-Assad Air Base housing US-led coalition forces in Iraq’s western province of Anbar, causing two minor injuries.
read all Breaking Newshandjob breaking news And coronavirus news Here
.