Some German troops flown out of Baghdad area

Monitoring Desk

BERLIN: The German military on Tuesday flew some of its troops out of Iraq due to the tensions that have followed the US killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.

Thirty-two men and women serving at the Taji military complex in central Iraq were taken to the Al-Asrak airbase in Jordan by an A400M transport plane, the Bundeswehr said.

A day earlier, three Germ-an soldiers and officers from other countries were relocated to Kuwait from a headquarters in Baghdad that is used for the fight against the Islamic State terrorist group. A rear headquarters in Kuwait will now be used more.

In the Kurdish area of northern Iraq, 117 German soldiers were still deployed Monday.

Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas wrote in a letter to parliamentarians that it would in particular be bases in the capital Baghdad and Taji that would be “temporarily thinned out.”

Both reiterated that talks were ongoing with the government in Baghdad about a continuation of the German deployment.

In the wake of Soleimani’s assassination in Iraq by the United States, the Iraqi parliament passed a resolution calling for an end to the presence of foreign troops linked to the US-led alliance fighting Islamic State.

“Of course we will respect every sovereign decision of the Iraqi government,” they wrote in the letter, a copy of which was seen by dpa.

“We are in principle ready to continue our tried and tested support as part of an internationally coordinated framework, if this is desired by Iraq and the situation allows it,” they added.

The ministers said that the soldier can be transferred back to Baghdad and Taji once training of Iraqi troops can resume.

Germany is participating in the US-led “Operation Inherent Resolve” against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria with a total of 415 soldiers.

It supports the operation with Tornado jets and tanker aircrafts, as well as military trainers in Iraq. (dpa)