Baghdad, 10 December 2021 (TDI): Iraq announced this Thursday that US-led international coalition forces against Daesh/ISIS have ended operations. Iraq also announced Victory Day.
The National Security Adviser of Iraq, Qassem Al-Haji, tweeted regarding the withdrawal as a result of talks held in the previous year. He further stated that ‘we have ended the last round of dialogue with the International coalition’. In addition, he mentioned in the tweet that coalition forces have officially announced the end of combat missions.
The strategic dialogue led to US withdrawal
Baghdad and Washington announced on July 26 that both strategic partners have successfully reached the terms of the agreement. The fourth, as well as the final round of the strategic dialogue, led to a final decision. The result was the process of US-led coalition forces withdrawing from Iraq by the end of 2021.
اليوم أنهينا جولة الحوار الأخيرة مع التحالف الدولي والتي بدأناها في العام الماضي، لنعلن رسميا انتهاء المهام القتالية لقوات التحالف وانسحابها من العراق، وستستمر العلاقة مع التحالف الدولي في مجال التدريب والاستشارة والتمكين.
— قاسم الاعرجي (@qassimalaraji) December 9, 2021
Iraqi National Security Adviser also stated that the ‘relation with the American-led international coalition will continue.’ He referred to the context to be in the ‘field of training, advice, and empowerment’.
Iraq received military assistance from strategic partners
President Joe Biden announced the end of the mission of 25,000 strong stationed troops during his visit to Iraq in July 2021.
The US-led coalition was engaged in anti-ISIS/Daesh operations since 2014 to fight the terror organization. The non-state actors had captured one-third of Iraq’s territory since its onslaught in June 2014. It was, then, defeated by the Iraqi army with the assistance of the US-led coalition in 2017. Furthermore, Iraqi ex-envoy to Pakistan Ali Yasin Muhammad Karim stated in mid-2017 that Pakistan helped Iraq in defeating ISIS / Daesh. The re-capturing of Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul, in 2017 had changed the course of the fight against IS. Iraqi pilots engaged in air operations against ISIS had received training in Pakistan
Iraq also received arms as well ammunition and military medical assistance from Pakistan. This was apart from receiving intelligence regarding the terror group.
