The United States is planning to remove its troops from Iraq, according to an official U.S. letter on Monday.
In it, U.S. Brig. Gen. William Seely, commanding general of the Task Force Iraq, informs the head of Iraq’s Joint Operations Command, Abdul Amir Yarallah, that U.S. troops would “be repositioning forces over the course of the coming days and weeks to prepare for onward movement.”
The announcement comes just days after the United States killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, in a strike in Baghdad on Thursday.
An increase in helicopter patrols over the International Zone in Baghdad will take place during the withdrawal.
Letter circulating allegedly from US to Iraq announcing “movement out”.
— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) January 6, 2020
Can’t confirm letter authenticity but AFP’s @GebeilyM confirmed the news pic.twitter.com/MP0UyETHSF
However, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that “there’s been no decision whatsoever to leave Iraq.”
On Sunday, Iraq’s parliament voted on a nonbinding resolution calling for the expulsion of U.S. forces from the country.
That same day, the U.S.-led coalition to fight ISIS suspended its operations on Sunday as American troops brace for possible retaliation by Iran over Soleimani’s death.
