US starts withdrawing troops from Iraq after defeating Islamic State terror outfit

NewsBharati    09-Feb-2018
Total Views |

Baghdad, February 7: The United States have begun reducing the number of forces deployed in Iraq after the Iraqi authorities declared victory over Islamic State terrorist organization. Notably, the Islamic State terrorist organization is witnessing historic fall in both Iraq and Syria as the US-led coalition armed forces continue to eradicate them from the two countries. 

The Iraqi government spokesman said that US forces have begun reducing their numbers in Iraq after Iraqi authorities declared "victory" over Islamic State. The move comes after US-led Iraqi forces have reclaimed all the territory last year fell under Islamic State control in 2014 and 2015 including Mosul which was a capital of the most dangerous terrorist organization.

However, the American forces are being deployed in Afghanistan to fight against Taliban and other terrorist groups. Importantly, the United States had more than 5,500 troops in Iraq at the height of the battle of Mosul in July 2017, making up about half the total force deployed by the coalition in the country.

The United States-led international coalition fighting Islamic State earlier estimated that less than 1,000 terrorists belonging to the hardline Sunni militant group remain in Iraq. Interestingly, Iraq was affected due to self-proclaimed caliphate ISIS captured many important governorates. Over 80,000 foreigners from countries such as Tunisia, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France and the Caucasus were recruited and traveled to Iraq between 2013 and 2016 to fight alongside ISIS.