ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Germany is withdrawing its military forces from the Kurdistan Region as the international coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) concludes its mission at the request of the Iraqi government, the country's defense ministry announced Friday.
"At the request of the Iraqi government, the mission of the international coalition against ISIS is coming to an end,” a spokesperson for the German defense ministry told Rudaw on Friday, noting that “this decision is based on the weakening of ISIS on the one hand, and the strengthening of Iraqi security forces to continue the fight against the remnants of ISIS independently on the other."
The international coalition against ISIS was established in 2014 with 90 partners to assist the Kurdish Peshmerga and Iraqi security forces. Germany has provided more than $3.4 billion in security and humanitarian aid to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region since 2014, having previously deployed around 500 soldiers across Erbil and Baghdad.
The German defense ministry informed the federal parliament's defense committee on Friday that it will relocate remaining advisors and soldiers to the German consulate in Erbil and continue supporting the Peshmerga through capacity-building initiatives and military education.
Kassem Taher Saleh, a German parliamentarian from the Green Party, told Rudaw’s Kehy Mahmoud that the withdrawal decision was finalized following an extraordinary committee meeting on Friday.
"For the Green Party, the withdrawal of the army from the Kurdistan Region is a disastrous decision for the security situation of the entire region, especially while the Iran war is ongoing," Saleh said, adding that the move would cause years of “hard effort” to go to waste.
Germany began a gradual drawdown of its forces following the outbreak of a war between the United States, Israel, and Iran in late February, leaving roughly 30 personnel currently in Erbil. The German government will meet with the Kurdistan Regional Government on August 15 to discuss the matter.
Znar Shino contributed to this article.
