Iraq PM announces end of foreign troops combat mission

“The coalition have fully completed their combat role after transfer of personnel and material outside Iraq. Going forward, their role will be to advise and assist our security forces per the outcome of the Strategic Dialogue,” al-Kadhimi said on Wednesday.

“We thank the leadership of the coalition, it’s members, our partners and neighbors in combating Daesh and reaffirm that our security forces stand ready to defend our people,” he added.

Since the assassination of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, Iraqi resistance forces have ramped up pressure on the US military to leave their country, targeting American bases and forces on numerous occasions, and at one point pushing the Americans to ask them to “just leave us alone.”

Earlier this year, Baghdad and Washington reached an agreement on ending the presence of all US combat troops in Iraq by the end of the year.

The US military declared the end of its combat mission in Iraq this month, but resistance forces remain bent on expelling all American forces, including those who have stayed in the country on the pretext of training Iraqi forces or playing an advisory role.