Shia militias call for exit of foreign troops from Iraq

BAGHDAD

Iraqi Shia militia groups have called for the departure of foreign soldiers working as advisers and trainers from the country.

In a statement, the Coordination Committee of the Iraqi Resistance, an umbrella group comprised of Iranian-supported Shia factions, rejected calls made by Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein on Friday for the US to help Iraqi troops in terms of intelligence, air support, and training.

“We don’t need any more fighters because we have those,” Hussein told The Wall Street Journal ahead of a critical meeting between US President Joe Biden and Iraqi Premier Mustafa al-Kadhimi. “What do we need? We need cooperation in the field of intelligence. We need help with training. We need troops to help us in the air.”

The committee said that it will not allow the presence of any foreign soldier in Iraq under any “pretext” such as "trainers and advisers or [to provide] air support," criticizing the US and international coalition forces for proving to be "a complete failure" in Iraq.

In recent months, military bases housing US forces in Iraq have been targeted with missile attacks for which Washington blame armed factions loyal to Iran.

Currently, there are around 3,000 troops, including 2,500 US forces, fighting in the anti-Daesh/ISIS coalition.

Iraqi political forces have called for the withdrawal of the US troops in the country under a parliamentary decision issued on Jan. 5, 2020.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara