Prime Minister al-Sudani said the US-led military coalition presence in Iraq would be permanently ended following the killing of a militia commander.
"We emphasize our firm stance on ending the existence of the international coalition, the reasons for this coalition to maintain its activities are no longer there," said a statement on January 5 from the Office of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
The agency said the government is setting a date for the bilateral commission to begin work to realize Iraq's wishes. "We will hold talks soon to determine the relevant procedures," the statement said.
US soldiers during an M119 howitzer firing training session at Al Asad air base in Iraq in April 2023. Photo: US Army
The statement by Prime Minister al-Sudani came a day after the US carried out a strike on the leader of the pro-Iranian militia Harakat al-Nujaba in Baghdad, killing him and another member of the group. The US said the strike was in self-defense and did not cause any civilian casualties or damage to surrounding infrastructure.
Harakat al-Nujaba, officially known as the 12th Brigade, is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMU) in Iraq. The organization consists of more than 60 militia groups with a strength of 230,000, mainly Shiite Muslim forces, but also includes Sunni Muslim, Christian and Yazidi militias.
US and allied forces in Iraq, deployed since 2014 to hunt down remnants of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) group, have been regularly attacked since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out in early October 2023.
The US says its forces in Iraq and Syria have been attacked more than 100 times. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose alliance of several pro-Iranian militias, has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks on US forces.
The US military has about 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria as part of a multinational coalition against IS. Other members of the coalition include Britain, France and Spain.
Nguyen Tien (According to AFP, Reuters )
Source link
Comment (0)