SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 29 March 2024, Friday |

U.S.-led troops end Iraq combat mission, as planned – military officials

According to Iraqi military leaders and officials from the coalition led by the United States, US-led forces have finished their combat mission in Iraq, transferring all remaining soldiers onto a training and advising role.

Privately, Western security officials and diplomats believe the number of soldiers stationed in the nation – presently more than 2,000 – would be unaffected since those forces have been involved in few combat operations in recent years.

The coalition led by the United States launched its effort to combat the Islamic State in 2014, after the terrorists took over large portions of Iraq and adjacent Syria.

Since the group’s military defeat in 2017, Islamic State fighters have been unable to hold territory but are waging a continued low-level insurgency that regularly kills Iraqi soldiers and civilians in remote mountain and desert areas.

The coalition has also come under dozens of rocket and drone attacks by Iran-backed Shi’ite militias that helped defeat the Sunni extremist Islamic State and which say there is no longer a justification for Western forces to be in Iraq.

“As we complete our combat role, we will remain here to advise, assist, and enable the ISF (Iraqi security forces), at the invitation of Republic of Iraq,” coalition commander Major General John W. Brennan, Jr. said in a statement.

Iraqi commander Lieutenant General Abdul Amir al-Shammari said Iraqi forces were ready to handle the Islamic State threat.

“Today, we renew our partnership with the Coalition, who are now serving in a new capacity – with a mission to advise, assist, and enable our brave military warriors,” he said.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi sealed an agreement in July to formally end the U.S. combat mission in Iraq by the end of 2021.

Iraqi Shi’ite militants have vowed to wage new attacks against coalition forces in 2022.

Western security and diplomatic officials say that calling the shift a withdrawal, as it has sometimes been characterized by the Iraqi government, is misleading because it changes little in terms of the number of forces based in Iraq.

The U.S. has kept around 2,500 troops in Iraq since 2020. The Western officials say that most of those forces have been operating only in a training and advising role for some time.

    Source:
  • Reuters