Germany to move some troops from Iraq following Qasim Soleimani killing

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Germany says it will reduce its troop presence in Iraq and will move some of its forces to neighboring countries.

About 30 of the 120 German forces in Iraq will be redeployed to Jordan and Kuwait, the German government told lawmakers in parliament in a letter on Monday, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

German troops are in Iraq, where they mostly provide training to Iraqi security forces. About 90 of the 120 German troops are stationed in the Kurdistan Region.

The announcement comes after a US drone strike last week on a convoy near the Baghdad airport killed Qasim Soleimani, long-time head of the Quds Force, the paramilitary arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard.

The strike also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the head of the Iranian-backed Shia militia, Kata’ib Hizbollah, which was responsible for killing a US contractor on Dec. 27 in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base near Kirkuk.

Read More: US strike kills Qasim Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis

On Sunday, the US-led Coalition against the Islamic State also announced it was suspending operations against the terrorist group to focus on ensuring the security of the military bases in Iraq from which its troops operate.

According to the German government, the reduction of troops in Iraq was ordered by the Coalition and would involve German soldiers in Baghdad and Taji, Reuters said.

Another complicating factor is the vote of the Iraqi parliament late on Sunday, when it approved a draft bill, calling for an end to the presence of foreign troops in Iraq.