Americas

Home page

Americas

U.S. set to formalize readjustment of troop role in Iraq

23 July 2021 02:29 (UTC +04:00)

The United States and Iraq are expected to formalize the end of Washington's combat mission in Iraq by the end of the year and continue the transition toward training and advising Iraqi forces, U.S. officials said on Thursday, APA reports quoting Reuters.

There are currently 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq focusing on countering the remnants of Islamic State. The move is not expected to have a major impact since the United States has already moved toward focusing on training Iraqi forces.

But the announcement, set to come after President Joe Biden meets his Iraqi counterpart in Washington next week, will be at a politically delicate time for the Iraq government and could be seen as a victory domestically in Baghdad.