US military starts drawing down mission in Iraq, officials say

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press BAGHDAD AP The U S military has begun drawing down its mission in Iraq under an agreement inked with the Iraqi establishment last year bureaucrats commented Wednesday Washington and Baghdad agreed last year to wind down the military mission in Iraq of an American-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group by September with U S forces departing particular bases where they have stationed troops during a two-decade-long military presence in the country Related Articles In the present day in History October Bombing on newspaper offices kills Editorial Trump Hegseth wage war on woke Ruling body shutdown begins as nation faces new period of uncertainty AI actor Tilly Norwood stirs outrage in Hollywood FTC sues Zillow and Redfin over deal it accuses of supressing competition in rental ads Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell stated in a announcement Wednesday that the U S will reduce its military mission in Iraq reflecting our combined success in fighting ISIS The move marks an effort to transition to a lasting U S -Iraq assurance partnership in accordance with U S national interests the Iraqi Constitution and the U S -Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement he reported The comment added that Washington will maintain close coordination with Baghdad and coalition partners to ensure a responsible transition It did not give details on the number of troops that have withdrawn to date or when the drawdown would be completed A senior Iraqi safeguard official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly explained the U S withdrawal began weeks ago from Baghdad and from Ain al-Asad base in western Iraq Only a very small number of advisers remain within the Joint Operations Command the official declared He added that certain forces have redeployed to the city of Irbil in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq while others have left the country entirely and that there is no accurate count of those who have withdrawn yet The official announced the drawdown is proceeding according to agreed-upon schedules Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani advised The Associated Press in an interview in July that the U S and Iraq will meet by the end of the year to arrange the bilateral safeguard relationship between the two countries