BAGHDAD (Dispatches) – Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani has reiterated that Iraq does not need military forces from 25 countries to work within the mission of the U.S.-led international coalition allegedly to fight the Daesh terrorist group.
Al-Sudani made the comments during a press conference, in which he stressed that the Iraqi government began an integrated program to improve the armament of the security forces in conjunction with seeking to end the presence of the foreign in the country.
The justifications for the foreign forces’ existence in 2014 have ended today, and “we are in the year 2024,” al-Sudani said.
He said that the Daesh group no longer poses a threat to Iraq’s security, adding that the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces have improved significantly and it can now maintain security throughout the country.
Al-Sudani stressed that the government hopes to move to a new phase of relations with other countries, including the economic, political and security aspects.
Al-Sudani’s comment came as Iraq and the U.S.-led coalition held on Feb. 11 a new round of dialogue to discuss ending the coalition’s mission in Iraq.
Daesh began a campaign of terror in Iraq in 2014, overrunning vast swathes in lightning attacks. Iraq declared victory over the group in December 2017, after a three-year counterterrorism endeavor, which also had the support of Iran. The terror outfit’s remnants, though, keep staging sporadic attacks across Iraq, in an attempt to regroup.
There are various reports that the U.S. occupation forces have on multiple occasions been transporting Daesh members to safe havens in Iraq and providing logistics for the terror outfit.
Hundreds of U.S. troops still remain inside the Arab country in what Washington describes as an “advisory” mission. U.S. President Joe Biden and Iraq’s then-Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi declared in July 2021 that the U.S. mission in Iraq would transition from combat to an “advisory” role by the end of that year.
After the 2020 assassination of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Units, along with the region’s legendary anti-terror commander, Iran’s Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, Iraqi lawmakers ratified a bill that required the government to end the presence of all foreign military forces led by the U.S.