On Wednesday, the German government announced that it would extend its mission in the coalition until October 2020, but reduce its number of troops throughout the Middle East from 800 to 700.
“The deployment of the Bundeswehr aims to stabilize the region,” read the statement, using the German name for its military.
Germany has been a core member of the US-led coalition and the NATO training mission in Iraq since Baghdad invited its forces to assist in the fight against ISIS in 2015.
Berlin has also worked through the UN’s Funding Facility for Stabilization to support security forces and reconstruction.
The announcement Wednesday said Germany will maintain its troop presence in both Iraq and northern Syria for another year to bolster local forces and ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS.
However, it plans to reduce the number of troops as a result of the “improved security situation”.
In a tweet on Wednesday, the German government confirmed German troops will stay in Iraq and Syria to ensure “stabilization” and fight ISIS.
Berlin has focused on capacity building among Iraqi security forces to give them the skills and equipment needed to provide adequate security for civilians.
The German government made no mention of its support for the Kurdish Peshmerga, which it also trains and supports, in Wednesday’s statement.
Germany has deployed roughly 100 soldiers to the Kurdistan Region capital Erbil and 60 to Iraq’s Taji military base, north of Baghdad.
Apart from training and advising, Germany provided Iraqi forces and the Peshmerga with weapons and military equipment during the war against ISIS.
However, due to US and Iran tensions in the region, Germany announced it is suspending its mission training Iraqi and Peshmerga soldiers in May.
The Netherlands followed the footsteps of Germany, citing similar threats.
ISIS seized control of swathes of territory across northern Iraq 2014. The group was declared defeated in December 2017. However, remnants of the group have returned to earlier insurgency tactics and continue to carry out low-scale attacks, particularly near Mosul and in the disputed Iraqi-Kurdish territories.
Germany has supported Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in non-military ways as well. Germany officially handed over the Peshmerga Hospital in Erbil to the KRG in April after building it for a year and a half. The facility strives to treat members of the Kurdistan Region’s security forces wounded in the ISIS war.
In 2018, Germany invested 90 million euros in water sanitation, sewage, and construction to stabilize Iraq following the defeat of ISIS.
