Statements by the official US State Department spokesperson paralleled those from the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In a statement delaying the announcement of the end of the military mission of the international coalition in Iraq due to recent events, it was said that the US only has advisors operating under the umbrella of the coalition.
The Ministry said, “These advisers are involved in the results of the work of the Supreme Military Committee, and both parties are committed to mechanisms that were followed and their outcome.”
“The work of the Supreme Military Committee has concentrated over the last few months on assessing the threat posed by ISIS with the intention of determining a final date for the military mission of Operation Inherent Resolve to end,” she said. All nationalities of international coalition advisers will be withdrawn from Iraqi territory based on this. Discussed was the order of emigrating advisors from the sites; all that remains now is to agree on the date of the announcement and a few minor practical details. Recent events delayed the announcement of the military mission of the international coalition ending in Iraq. We were really close to exposing this deal.
According to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, “this relationship existed before the coalition and will continue after it,” and “the bilateral relationship with the United States in all areas, including the security relationship, is completely separate from the course of the relationship with the international coalition forces.”
She said that what the Iraqi constitution allows, and within the framework of the strategic agreement between Iraq and the United States, the Iraqi delegation discussed the future of the security relationship in areas such as training, armaments, equipment, and security cooperation.
On the 31st of July 2024, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, the military spokesperson of the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, reported that coalition forces had made a “heinous crime and blatant attack” north of Babylon and vowed to take proper diplomatic and legal action “to preserve rights.”
A US official said Wednesday that four members of the Popular Mobilization soldiers were killed in a defensive air strike against fighters in the Iraqi province of Babil who had sought to launch drones threatening American soldiers and the international coalition.
Official Iraqi claims indicated that the negotiations between Baghdad and Washington resumed in February after reaching an agreement on gradual and slow reduction, thus ending the mission of the international coalition forces battling ISIS. The second and third rounds of negotiations were scheduled for March and April respectively.
The global coalition, led by Washington, has deployed some 2,500 US troops in the country since September 2014. Three key sites in Iraq—Camp Victoria, near Baghdad International Airport, the Harir facility in Erbil, the Ain al-Assad base in Anbar—as well as several other camps have the troops dispersed amongst them. Other than the US troops, the coalition forces operating in Iraq also comprise those of France, Australia, the United Kingdom, and NATO.
