Withdrawal of foreign combat troops enhances Iraqi security: national security advisor
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The withdrawal of foreign combat forces from Iraq enhances the country’s security, Iraq’s national security advisor said on Wednesday, following several attacks by the Islamic State (ISIS) over the past week, killing and injuring scores.
“Al-Araji indicated that the withdrawal of foreign combat forces from Iraq helps to stabilize and enhance its security,” reads a statement from advisor Qasim al-Araji’s office following his meeting with NATO Chief of Staff, Admiral Joachim Rühle.
“Iraq needs training and advice and raising its combat capabilities and does not need any combat force,” the statement added.
The statement by al-Araji comes at a time where Iraq is facing constant attacks in areas with security vacuums by ISIS remnants.
The militants attacked the Peshmerga’s Brigade 10 in Prde on Saturday, which resulted in a 45-minute clash. Peshmerga commander Nuri Hama Ali told Rudaw that three of his fighters were killed and two wounded.
One fighter from the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al Shaabi in Arabic) was killed and three others were injured in an ISIS attack on the PMF’s Brigade 16 in Kirkuk late on Monday, Iraqi state media said on Tuesday.
In its weekly propaganda newspaper al-Naba, ISIS claimed last week it had conducted 38 attacks across Iraq between April 22 and 28, killing and injuring 74 people.
The US-led coalition has provided Iraqi security services with training and support in the war against ISIS, however it has on different occasions been asked to leave the country by various Iraqi actors, especially following the US killing of Iranian General Qasim Soleimani.
Coalition spokesperson Colonel Wayne Marotto told Rudaw English in April that “the Coalition is in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi Government and respects the sovereignty of the government of Iraq.”
“We are committed – to the mission in Iraq which is there again at the invitation of the Iraqi government to help them prosecute the war on ISIS, which we still think is a valid mission,” Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said in a press briefing on Wednesday.
This comes at a time where President Barham Salih in a virtual speech at the Beirut Institute Summit on Wednesday said that strategic dialogue is ongoing between Iraq and the US, and among the points of discussion is US military presence in Iraq.
"The emphasis on ending combat operations in Iraq by the United States and the International Coalition, obviously this is contingent upon capabilities of the Iraqi Security Services, which are improving in no small measure because of the help of the International Coalition led by the United States, to which we are grateful," Salih said.
"We are not one of those who are shy of saying thank you to our partners when they help us."
Salih also added that while both sides agree that in the longer run Iraqi Security Services should be self reliant and there should be no military presence of US troops, recent attacks in Kirkuk and Diyala show the ongoing threat of ISIS.
“Al-Araji indicated that the withdrawal of foreign combat forces from Iraq helps to stabilize and enhance its security,” reads a statement from advisor Qasim al-Araji’s office following his meeting with NATO Chief of Staff, Admiral Joachim Rühle.
“Iraq needs training and advice and raising its combat capabilities and does not need any combat force,” the statement added.
The statement by al-Araji comes at a time where Iraq is facing constant attacks in areas with security vacuums by ISIS remnants.
The militants attacked the Peshmerga’s Brigade 10 in Prde on Saturday, which resulted in a 45-minute clash. Peshmerga commander Nuri Hama Ali told Rudaw that three of his fighters were killed and two wounded.
One fighter from the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al Shaabi in Arabic) was killed and three others were injured in an ISIS attack on the PMF’s Brigade 16 in Kirkuk late on Monday, Iraqi state media said on Tuesday.
In its weekly propaganda newspaper al-Naba, ISIS claimed last week it had conducted 38 attacks across Iraq between April 22 and 28, killing and injuring 74 people.
The US-led coalition has provided Iraqi security services with training and support in the war against ISIS, however it has on different occasions been asked to leave the country by various Iraqi actors, especially following the US killing of Iranian General Qasim Soleimani.
Coalition spokesperson Colonel Wayne Marotto told Rudaw English in April that “the Coalition is in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi Government and respects the sovereignty of the government of Iraq.”
“We are committed – to the mission in Iraq which is there again at the invitation of the Iraqi government to help them prosecute the war on ISIS, which we still think is a valid mission,” Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said in a press briefing on Wednesday.
This comes at a time where President Barham Salih in a virtual speech at the Beirut Institute Summit on Wednesday said that strategic dialogue is ongoing between Iraq and the US, and among the points of discussion is US military presence in Iraq.
"The emphasis on ending combat operations in Iraq by the United States and the International Coalition, obviously this is contingent upon capabilities of the Iraqi Security Services, which are improving in no small measure because of the help of the International Coalition led by the United States, to which we are grateful," Salih said.
"We are not one of those who are shy of saying thank you to our partners when they help us."
Salih also added that while both sides agree that in the longer run Iraqi Security Services should be self reliant and there should be no military presence of US troops, recent attacks in Kirkuk and Diyala show the ongoing threat of ISIS.