First-round talks between the US and Iraq on the future of US and other foreign soldiers in the country took place on Saturday, and Baghdad is anticipating that the discussion would result in the withdrawal of US troops’.
As part of an international coalition formed in 2014 to combat the Islamic State organization, which took over large portions of both Iraq and neighboring Syria, about 2,500 US forces are still deployed there.
However, since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict in October, Iran-aligned organizations have attacked US-led coalition forces in Syria and Iraq frequently. This has prompted US retaliation strikes and Iraqi allegations of US “aggression” against its territory.
Though negotiations had been scheduled since an initial meeting in Washington in August, the unstable circumstances have forced Iraq’s prime minister, whose administration depends on the backing of parties linked with Iran, to demand the coalition’s withdrawal.
According to a US military official who spoke to AFP on Saturday, there was a “one-way drone attack” on the coalition troops stationed at the Ain al-Assad camp in the western province of Anbar in Iraq.
The US official stated that it was not immediately obvious whether the drone attack had resulted in any casualties or damage, while an Iraqi security officer confirmed the attack.
“Military experts will oversee ending the military mission of the Global Coalition against Daesh, a decade after its initiation and after its successful achievement of its mission in partnership with Iraqi security and military forces.”
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