In a letter sent by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to their respective ministries, the two ministers announce that 30 of 130 soldiers in Iraq will be “temporarily thinned out” and redeployed to neighboring Jordan and Kuwait.
The 30 are currently in Baghdad and at Taji military base. The remaining 100 are located in the Kurdistan Region, where they are training Kurdish Peshmerga forces.
The German decision came following a non-binding Iraqi parliament resolution that asked the Iraqi government to expel foreign troops from the country following recent US airstrikes in Iraq.
German Foreign Minister Maas had already said on Sunday that he would respect any Iraqi decision concerning foreign troops, but would like to continue helping Iraq in the fight against ISIS remnants.
“Naturally we will respect any sovereign decision of the Iraqi government," Maas said.
“In principle, we are prepared to continue providing our proven support within an internationally coordinated framework as long as this is something that Iraq wants and is in the situation to permit it,” the letter added.
“When the training is able to resume, the military personnel can be reinstated,” added the two ministers.
The German decision corresponds with that of the US-led Global Coalition against Islamic State, who on Sunday said it would limit operations in Iraq and suspend its training of Iraqi forces.
As a US-led alliance, it is feared an American withdrawal from anti-ISIS operations in Iraq could provoke a pullout by other coalition member forces.
US defense officials have insisted its forces will remain in the country – despite the false alarm release of a draft, unsigned letter that indicated a US withdrawal.
As US-Iran tensions continue to escalate with the death by airstrike of Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, it is feared the anti-ISIS fight will be neglected. The joint letter from the two German ministers warned a reduction of the global coalition force could strengthen ISIS and “cause greater instability” in Iraq.
