Global Coalition: Iraqi military to resume joint anti-ISIS operations

Iraq’s military has agreed to resume joint operations against ISIS, the global coalition against the terrorist group said on Friday, four weeks after they were suspended in response to the US assassination of an Iraqi PMF Leader in Baghdad.

The US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS announced the decision in a tweet quoting a statement from the Iraq military.

“To exploit the time that remains for the Coalition before the new relationship is set up … it was decided to carry out joint actions which enable our forces to fight Daesh,” it quoted the Iraqi forces as saying.

The Iraqi military says it is resuming operations with the @coalition against Daesh. Statement says: "To exploit the time that remains for the Coalition before the new relationship is set up…it was decided to carry out joint actions which enable our forces to fight Daesh."

— The Global Coalition (@coalition) January 31, 2020

A US State Department official said this week that the coalition “remains committed, along with Iraqi security forces, to our shared goal of defeating ISIS remnants”.

The US has about 5,200 troops stationed on various bases around the country who are involved in training Iraqi forces.

While ISIS remains a concern in Iraq, the coalition has not seen a rise in activity over the past month, the official said.

Iraq declared victory over ISIS in late 2017 after brutal battles to recapture territory seized by the extremists in early 2014.

On January 5, Iraq’s parliament passed a resolution calling for the end of foreign troop presence in the country. The same day, the coalition announced it was suspending the fight against ISIS and other operations to focus on protecting its troops and bases in Iraq.

Iraqi bases hosting US troops had been subjected to frequent rocket attacks in previous weeks.

Iran fired missiles at US troop positions in Iraq on January 8 in response to the killing of Suleimani. The US initially said no soldiers were injured but has since issued a rising count of troops being treated for traumatic brain injury from the blasts. The Pentagon on Thursday put the number of troops affected at 64.