Iraq still needs US help to defeat Islamic State, foreign minister says

Iraq nonetheless wants help from the US-led coalition to defeat the Islamic State, Iraqi International Minister Fuad Hussein stated Friday amid stories the Biden administration is planning to withdraw fight troops from the nation. 

“There’s nonetheless terrorist actions for ISIS in Iraq,” Hussein stated alongside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday, utilizing a typical abbreviation for the Islamic State. 

Hussein highlighted the Islamic State-claimed bombing at a busy market in Baghdad’s Sadr Metropolis on Monday, which left greater than 30 folks lifeless. In latest months, the Iraqi capital has skilled a number of assaults attributed to the Sunni terrorist group, which has maintained a low-level insurgency since Iraq introduced the Islamic State’s territorial defeat in 2017. 

“We’d like cooperation with the worldwide coalition and to work with the worldwide coalition underneath the management of america and to alternate info with the worldwide coalition, america and with Iraq to defeat ISIS,” Hussein stated. 

Al-Monitor reported Friday that Baghdad and Washington are getting ready a joint assertion that may doubtless point out a timeframe for the withdrawal of American “fight troops” by the tip of the yr. The announcement is anticipated to observe Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s assembly Monday with President Joe Biden.

Roughly 2,500 US troops stay in Iraq helping native associate forces. In April, US and Iraq officers mentioned an eventual withdrawal, however didn’t set a timeline.

White Home Press Secretary Jen Psaki stated Friday that Biden seems to be ahead to “strengthening bilateral cooperation with Iraq on political, financial and safety points, together with joint efforts to make sure the enduring defeat of ISIS.”

Forward of Kadhimi’s go to, the US State Division on Friday introduced $155 million in further humanitarian help for the folks of Iraq and the communities internet hosting Iraqi refugees. Since 2014, the US has offered greater than $3 billion in humanitarian assist to the war-torn nation. 

“I feel what at present is demonstrating is that the partnership between america and Iraq is way broader and deeper than even the frequent combat in opposition to ISIS,” Blinken stated.