Politics

Albania to send forces to fight IS in Iraq: Defense Minister

Following the US request, Albanian Defense Minister Mimi Kodheli on Monday told a parliamentary committee that they have agreed to send about 30 infantry troops to Iraq for military operations.

Sangar Ali 2017/02/28 12:25

world Mosul Iraq Albania ISIS

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Following the US request, Albania announced on Monday that they have agreed to send about 30 infantry troops to Iraq for military operations against the Islamic State (IS).

Albanian Defense Minister Mimi Kodheli told a parliamentary committee the troops will be part of the US-led coalition forces that currently advise and train Iraqi forces in the battle against the jihadists.

“We are going to bring to parliament very soon a draft law to open the way to the presence of [Albanian] soldiers in the global coalition against ISIS,” she said.

The draft law is planned to be sent to the Albanian parliament in the coming weeks where all detail will be mentioned including the number of troops and their duties in Iraq.

“This is not a NATO mission, and it needs a special law. We are talking about a voluntary mission in which Albania has helped already in different ways, but not with a military presence,” Kodheli told the commission.

Albania is one of the countries who first joined the US-led coalition against the IS which was formed in Sep. 2014 with the total of 68 countries around the world.

In addition to the military operations to oust the extremist group in Iraq, the coalition members contribute to the restoration of the public services to areas retaken from the IS.

In 2014 and within the framework of the US-led coalition, Albania provided four trenches of weapons and ammunitions to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in 2014.

The country also combats radical Islamism at home as they adopted a national strategy for countering violent extremism in 2015.

Albanian soldiers were engaged within the coalition forces in 2003 during the Iraq war. There were about 1,377 Albanian troops in Iraq until 2008 but they later withdrew from the country.

IS occupied Mosul in June 2014 and shortly after expanded to other areas in northern Iraq. The security forces have already launched a military operation to retake the western Mosul from the extremist group.

Editing by Ava Homa