The Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Army, Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah, confirmed on Sunday that there are no coalition military forces on the ground in Iraq, and that the coalition’s mission is limited to “air support” only.
The Iraqi News Agency quoted the Chief of Staff as saying that Iraq wants to set a specific time limit to completely complete the coalition mission and move relations to the stage of bilateral partnership.
He added, “We sensed the seriousness of the international coalition and America in ending the coalition’s mission in the country.”
Rashid Yarallah explained that three committees have been formed related to evaluating ISIS, the operational arenas, and the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces, and the Supreme Committee will hold a meeting every 15 days with the aim of ending the international coalition’s mission in the country.
He stated that “the international coalition’s tasks are now limited to air support and it does not have any military forces on the ground, and this work is entrusted only to our security forces under various names, including the army, the Popular Mobilization Forces, the Counter-Terrorism Service, and the Federal Police.”
The Iraqi Army Chief of Staff pointed out that “the discussion with the international coalition focuses on the air and intelligence aspects,” adding: “As for the ground aspect, we are able to perform our tasks and do not need any force to support or support us.”
He pointed out that “the Iraqi vision is to completely end the coalition’s mission, and to set a time limit to completely end the coalition’s mission while moving to the stage of bilateral partnership and in accordance with memorandums of understanding between the Iraqi Ministry of Defense and a number of coalition countries,” indicating that “the mission of the Military Committee is limited to ending the presence of the international coalition.” While the process of framing bilateral relations will be the task of the Ministry of Defense and other ministries.”
He stressed: “We have a strategic framework agreement with the United States, which is part of the security aspect, through which the issue of bilateral memorandums emerges, in addition to the transfer of bilateral relations to other levels with the countries participating in the international coalition.”
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