”On December 13-14, General Michael Erik Kurilla, U.S. Central Command Commander, traveled to Iraq and Syria to meet with key leaders, partner forces, and U.S. Service Members,” read the statement.
It added that General Kurilla held meetings with Sudani and other Iraqi officials as well as the US embassy team in Baghdad. He also visited US troops based at al-Asad air base in western Iraq and near the Erbil International Airport “where he visited with [the] Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) leaders and Service Members to receive an operational update and assess the current security situation.”
The CENTCOM commander also travelled to northeast Syria (Rojava), meeting with “key partners… to gain an overall assessment of our progress on the defeat [of] ISIS mission and our force protection posture.”
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is the main ally of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) on the ground in Syria. However, the CENTCOM statement did not mention the force.
US troops in Iraq and Syria have come under the target of a series of rocket and drone attacks by pro-Iran militias since mid-October, in retaliation to Washington’s support for Israel in its war on Gaza.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups backed by Iran and affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), claimed responsibility for most of the attacks, including the recent ones.
“These visits provide valuable insights you cannot get without traveling to the region and seeing it first-hand. I came away with a great sense of pride in the professionalism, dedication, and competence of our incredible Service Members deployed in harm’s way, “ stated General Kurilla on Friday.
The CENTCOM commander oversees US military missions in the Middle East, central, and southern Asia.
A series of rockets targeted the US embassy in Baghdad last Friday, causing no casualties. The headquarters of the Iraqi National Security Service in Baghdad, Erbil International Airport, and a civilian building near the airport were also hit with drones and rockets on the same day.
Yehia Rasool, military spokesperson for the prime minister, said in a statement on Thursday that the security forces investigated the incidents and were able to arrest some perpetrators.
US Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski commended Sudani for the arrests.
“The U.S. is committed to close coordination with @IraqiGovt to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice, U.S. personnel who are present in [the] country at Iraq's invitation are safe, and Iraq's sovereignty and independence are protected,” she said.
There have been at least 92 attacks targeting US interests in Iraq and Syria since October 17, Pentagon Spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said on Tuesday, stressing that the strikes “have largely been unsuccessful.”
The Pentagon said last week that at least 66 US personnel have received “non-serious” injuries as a result of the attacks.
Around 2,500 American troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria are leading an international coalition through Operation Inherent Resolve that has assisted Kurdish, Iraqi, and local Syrian forces in the fight against ISIS which once held swathes of land in Iraq and Syria but was declared territorially defeated in 2019.
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