Translation and video editing by Sarkawt Mohammed
KIRKUK, Iraq—American coalition forces in Iraq officially handed over an air base in Kirkuk to Iraqi Security forces on Sunday.
At a ceremony held at the K1 Air Base, 300 American troops were the last departures of the multi-national Coalition that had used the base in anti-ISIS operations since 2017.
"K1 has served as a critical location for the Coalition, Iraqi Security Forces and counter-terrorism service in the fight to find and destroy ISIS safe havens," said US Brig. Gen. Vincent Barker.
The ceremony makes the third military base which American troops have withdrawn from, after the al-Qaim base, which is near the Syrian border, and Qayyarah base in western Iraq.
The withdrawals come after months of tense escalation following a US drone strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.
The Coalition said in a statement Sunday that the decision to reposition troops was "long-planned" and "not related to recent attacks Iraqi bases hosting Coalition troops, not the ongoing COVID-19 situation in Iraq."
Though the final territorial holdings of the self-proclaimed "caliphate" of the Islamic State was decimated in March 2019, remnants of the militant group have been able to maintain an insurgency by hiding out in the rugged Hamrin Mountains, about 70 kilometers south of the disputed city of Kirkuk.
"It's difficult to put a number on ISIS militants in Iraq or Syria, what we focus on is their capability," US Colonel Myles Caggins III told Rudaw English.
"ISIS used to hold 110,000 square kilometers of territory. Now they hold zero, and we assess that they cannot hold physical territory, but they are able to have a low level insurgency where they can conduct crimes and harass people and small attacks," Caggins said.
Some 7,500 foreign troops are in Iraq as part of the US-led coalition helping local troops fight the remnants of ISIS, but those numbers are being significantly drawn down this month.
While the US military is repositioning troops away from the battle with ISIS, the Pentagon has ordered commanders to prepare for the possible confrontation with Iranian-backed militias in Iran, The New York Times reported Friday.
Control over the Kirkuk base now rests in the hands of Iraqi Security Forces, who say they have been tracking ISIS movements in the Hamrin mountain range.
ISIS fighters have so far been able to exploit security gap between Kurdish Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi army, hiding out in rough mountainous caves during the day, and emerging at night to conduct attacks and exploit locals.
"We know that they are conducting criminal activity, mostly to get money," said Caggins, the Coalition spokesperson. "ISIS is broke. They can't pay their fighters, so they're stealing cows, they're stealing sheep, kidnapping people and holding them for ransom."
Reporting by Fazel Hawramy and Hunar Ahmed
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