China News Service, August 30. According to a report by the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on the 29th, US officials stated that the US plans to reduce the number of US troops in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,500.
According to reports, US President Trump also posted on social media on the 29th that the United States plans to reduce its military forces in Iraq, but he did not elaborate on the number of troops withdrawn.
The report said that the withdrawal has already begun, but US officials did not specify how long it will take to complete the withdrawal.
On January 8, local time, satellite images showed that the Ain al-Asad U.S. Air Force base in western Iraq was visibly damaged after being hit by a rocket from Iran.
In June, the U.S. State Department issued a U.S.-Iran joint statement stating that “Both sides determined that due to greater progress in eliminating the threat of the Islamic State, the U.S. will continue to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq in the next few months, and cooperate with the The Chinese government discussed the status of surplus troops."
The statement also emphasized that the United States will not seek to establish permanent bases or permanent troops in Iraq.
The United States and Iraq signed a strategic framework agreement in 2008, confirming the legitimacy of the US military in Iraq. At the end of 2011, the United States withdrew its troops from Iraq, leaving only a small number of soldiers in the US Embassy in Iraq. In 2014, the extremist organization "Islamic State" seized large areas of western and northern Iraq, and the United States subsequently increased its troops in Iraq, but the US military's authority was limited to combating the "Islamic State" and providing support and training for the Iraqi government forces.
On January 3, 2020, the United States launched an air strike in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, killing Soleimani, commander of the "Quds Brigade" under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard of Iran, and Muhan, deputy commander of the "People's Mobilization Organization", an Iraqi Shiite militia. Diss et al. The Iraqi National Assembly subsequently passed a resolution calling for an end to the presence of foreign troops in Iraq.