ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – America’s handover of al-Qaim military base to the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) is “the first step of a US troop withdrawal from Iraq,” an Iraqi military official told Rudaw on Thursday.
Maj. Gen. Tahsin Khafaji, spokesman for Iraq’s Joint Operation Command, said Thursday that US forces have now officially handed over command of al-Qaim military base on the Iraq-Syria border.
Al-Qaim in Iraq’s Anbar province, west of Baghdad, has been used by US-led coalition troops since 2017 to train and advise Iraqi forces to combat the Islamic State group (ISIS).
It was also used to conduct air operations against the jihadists in their last territorial holdout of Baghouz, eastern Syria, in early 2019.
It remains unclear where the US troops will be stationed from now on.
“Today in a special ceremony the US troops handed over al-Qaim military base back to the Iraqi Security Forces,” Khafaji said.
“This is the first step of US troops withdrawing from Iraq, as they will withdraw and leave two more Iraqi bases, including Qayyarah base and K1 base,” he added.
Qayyarah military air base is located 60km south of Mosul in Nineveh province, while the K1 base is located 15km northwest of Kirkuk city.
The coalition released a statement on Tuesday confirming its troops conducted a “base transfer ceremony” on Tuesday and announced plans to relocate from al-Qaim.
Another ceremony was held on Thursday as the troops withdrew.
The coalition will remain in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government, but will “operate from fewer locations”.
“The coalition troops will depart al-Qaim base after the completion of equipment transfers to Iraqi Security Forces in the coming days,” the statement added.
There are roughly 5,000 US troops stationed in Iraq advising and assisting Iraqi and Kurdish forces in the fight against ISIS remnants.
Baghdad invited US troops back to Iraq in 2014 to assist in the fight against the terror group.
The presence of US troops in Iraq has always been contentious for Shiite parties and Iran-backed Shiite paramilitias.
Following the US assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis on January 3, Shiite blocs in the Iraqi parliament passed a resolution demanding the expulsion of US forces.
Iran responded to the assassination by firing a barrage of ballistic missiles at Iraqi bases hosting US forces on January 8.
No Americans were killed in the retaliatory strikes, but more than a hundred US personnel reportedly suffered traumatic brain injury.
At the time, the US and Iran appeared to be on the brink of war, potentially turning Iraq into a battlefield.
The US military is now moving air and missile defense systems into Iraq following negotiations with Baghdad, Marine Corps General and head of the US Central Command Kenneth McKenzie recently informed the House Armed Services Committee.
“Since May 2019, Iranian proxies and Shiite militia groups in Iraq have increased attacks on US interests and conducted scores of unmanned aerial system reconnaissance flights near US and Iraqi security force bases,” said Gen. McKenzie told the committee.
“We are in the process of bringing air defense systems, ballistic missile defense systems into Iraq – particularly to protect ourselves against another potential Iranian attack,” he added.
In early March, coalition spokesperson Colonel Myles B. Caggins III told Rudaw English the US and the coalition are looking to reposition their troops inside Iraq, due to threats posed by Iranian-backed groups and ISIS remnants.
“The coalition will look at where to position its advisers from now on as things have been changed, and it is likely that our operation will adjust based on the threats,” he said.
However, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the House Foreign Affairs Committee in Washington on February 28 that although the Trump administration has worked hard to eliminate Iran-backed groups, it has failed to contain the threat.
“The continued problem and presence of the Shia militias, PMF [Popular Mobilization Forces] in Nineveh region is something we have worked hard on to eliminate...we have all worked very diligently on that but we have not succeeded,” Pompeo said.
