BAGHDAD: Iraq and the United States have agreed on a phased pullout of the US-led anti-jihadist coalition but have yet to sign a final agreement, the Iraqi defence minister said Sunday (Sep 8).
The United States has some 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria as part of the international coalition against the Islamic State group.
They have been engaged in months of talks with Baghdad on a withdrawal of forces but fell short of announcing any timeline so far.
On Sunday, Iraqi Defence Minister Thabet al-Abbassi told pan-Arab television channel Al-Hadath that the coalition would pull out from bases in Baghdad and other parts of federal Iraq by September 2025 and from the autonomous northern Kurdistan region by September 2026.
The pullout is “two-phased” and “maybe we will sign the agreement within the next few days”, Abbassi said.
He added that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had said in a meeting that “two years were not enough” to carry out the withdrawal.
“We refused his proposal regarding an (extra) third year,” Abbassi said.
Source: CNA
