Iraqi head of government: anti-IS mission no longer necessary
Published: Thursday, Jan 18th 2024, 15:50
Retour au fil d'actualité
The US-led military coalition against the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS) in Iraq is no longer necessary, according to the government.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani said on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos: "The Islamic State no longer poses a threat to Iraq." The security forces are now well prepared. The government would work out a plan in a dialog to end the coalition's tasks.
Al-Sudani said that the dialog followed attacks on Iraqi territory - apparently a reference to the recent US attacks in Iraq. In recent weeks, the US military has repeatedly responded to attacks by pro-Iranian militias there, which have increased since the start of the Gaza war at the beginning of October. Two weeks ago, a commander of a powerful militia was killed in the capital Baghdad. The Iraqi army sharply criticized the action and compared the attack to "terrorism".
"This is a public and official demand and we are serious about it," said Al-Sudani. An end to the mission is necessary in order to maintain "constructive bilateral relations" between Iraq and the countries in the anti-IS alliance, which also includes Germany.
In Iraq, there are repeated calls for the withdrawal of the approximately 2,500 remaining US troops. A spokesman for the US Department of Defense said last week that he was not aware of any new agreements for a withdrawal or corresponding communications from the Iraqis. The US troops are in the country "at the invitation of the Iraqi government".
The alliance's mission began after IS captured large areas in the north and west of Iraq and in Syria in 2014. With international support, the Iraqi security forces were able to gradually push back the extremists. In December 2017, the then Iraqi head of government Haidar al-Abadi declared victory over IS in Iraq. However, extremist cells continue to carry out attacks.
©Keystone/SDA
French 
English 
German 
Spanish 
Arabic