No foreign troops fighting Daesh in Iraq: PM

By Ali Jawwad

BAGHDAD

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said Tuesday there were no foreign troops fighting the Daesh terrorist group in Iraq.

“There is no foreign soldier fighting the Daesh group alongside Iraqi troops,” al-Abadi told a joint press conference with Dutch Premier Mark Rutte in Baghdad.

He said Iraqi forces were receiving only air support from the U.S.-led coalition.

“Our forces will defeat Daesh and destroy it,” al-Abadi vowed.

Hundreds of foreign troops are deployed in a number of military bases in northern Iraq. Baghdad says that U.S. troops in Iraq are providing logistic support and advice to Iraqi troops fighting Daesh militants.

Al-Abadi called on the international community to provide support for Iraq, particularly humanitarian aid.

Iraqi forces are currently preparing to launch a major offensive to recapture Mosul from Daesh group, which overran the city in 2014.

Rutte, for his part, said his country was fighting Daesh on many levels.

“We want to make sure that refugees return to Fallujah and provide basic services to them,” he said.

Iraq has suffered a devastating security vacuum since mid-2014, when Daesh captured vast swathes of territory in western and northern Iraq.

While the Iraqi army, backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, has managed to retake most of the territory, the terrorist group remains in control of several parts of the country.