BAGHDAD: US forces have begun reducing their numbers in Iraq after Iraqiauthorities declared “victory” over Islamic State, an Iraqi governmentspokesman said on Monday.
Iraqi forces backed by a US-led international coalition last year capturedall the territory that fell under Islamic State control in 2014 and 2015,including the northern city of Mosul, which served as the militants’ defacto capital.
“The American forces have begun reducing their numbers as victory has beenachieved over Daesh,” the spokesman told Reuters. “Coordination continues,to maintain (US) assistance to the Iraqi forces in accordance with theirrequirements.”
The United States had more than 5,500 troops in Iraq at the height of thebattle of Mosul in July 2017, making up about half the total force deployedby the coalition in the country.
A coalition spokesman declined to confirm or deny that the drawdown hadbegun. “It is our intent to publish a release whenever we have forcesmoving out of the theater,” the spokesman, US Army Col. Ryan Dillon, toldReuters.
“Continued coalition presence will be conditions-based, proportional to theneed and in coordination with the government of Iraq,” he said. – Agencies