Iraq says US strikes pushing government to end US-led coalition’s mission

BAGHDAD (Reuters): Repeated US strikes against Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq are pushing the Baghdad government to end the mission of the US-led coalition in the country, the prime minister’s military spokesperson said on Thursday.

The US military said a strike on Wednesday killed a commander from Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed armed group in Iraq that the Pentagon has blamed for attacking its troops.

Spokesperson Yahya Rasool said in a statement the US-led coalition “has become a factor for instability and threatens to entangle Iraq in the cycle of conflict.”

Talks between the two countries began in January over the future of the coalition. But less than 24 hours later three US soldiers were killed in an attack in Jordan that the United States said was carried out by Iran-backed militant groups in Syria and Iraq and the talks have since paused.

Iraq and the Unites States will resume negotiations on the future of the US-led international military coalition in the country on Feb. 11, the Iraqi military spokesperson said in a statement.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein called for the resumption of talks in a phone call with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Tuesday.

Any discussions over the future of the coalition are expected to take months if not longer, with the outcome unclear.

The US-led international military coalition in Iraq was set up to fight Islamic State. The United States has 2,500 troops in Iraq, advising and assisting local forces to prevent a resurgence of the group.

Since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began in October, Iraq and Syria have witnessed almost daily tit-for-tat attacks between hard-line Iran-backed armed groups and US forces stationed in the region.