Phil Stewart
Washington (Reuters) -Pentagon on Tuesday entered a statement to reduce his military mission in Iraq, a process that, according to the American official, will see Baghdad’s command to combat the remnants of the Islamic state within his country.
In accordance with the plan, the United States and its coalition allies instead will focus on the fight against the remnants of the Islamic state in Syria and transferred most of their personnel to the Iraqi Kurdistan region to fulfill this mission, the official said on anonymity.
At the beginning of 2025, there were about 2500 troops in Iraq and more than 900 in neighboring Syria as part of the coalition formed in 2014 to fight the Islamic state when it exploded through two countries.
After the transitions are completed, the total number of American forces in Iraq will be less than 2000, and most of them will be in Erbil, the official said. The final number has yet to be determined, the official added without offering a schedule.
American troops remaining in Baghdad will be focused on ordinary bilateral problems of security cooperation, and not on the fight against ISIS.
“ISIS no longer poses a stable threat to the Iraqi government or to the US homeland from Iraqi territory. This is a major achievement that allows us to more responsibly switch to Iraq, leading efforts to ensure security in our country, ”said a senior defense representative.
The agreement is an impulse for the government in Baghdad, which has long been worried that American troops could be a magnet for instability, often subjected to groups aligned by Iran.
Last year, the United States agreed with Iraq to leave the Ain al-Asad air base in the Western province of Anbar and transfer it to Iraq. The US official said that the transition is still in the process, and refused to offer additional information.
Although the Trump administration also outlined plans for subsidence in Syria, the official said that this is based on the terms, and at present we are in the situation of status quo. ”
The United States is concerned about the constant presence of the Islamic state fighters in Syria, and the risk that thousands of people are kept in prison can be released.
Syria President Ahmed al-Sharaa, former leader of Al-Qaeda, led the rebel forces that the Bashar al-Assad government overthrew last year. US President Donald Trump met him in Er -ryad in May.
The leaders of the Middle East and their Western allies warn that the Islamic state can use political instability in Syria to put a return there.
(Report of Phil Stewart; additional reporting Kanishka Singha; editing volume Hog and Lincoln Peritz.)
