Iraq
A Spanish soldier mentors a member of Iraq's security forces at Besmaya Range complex on June 12, 2019. Photo: Brandon Best/US Army
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Global Coalition to defeat the Islamic State (ISIS) on Saturday officially handed the Besmaya military base near Baghdad to Iraqi Security Forces, the latest of several military bases to be transferred to Iraqi control.
“Iraqi forces trained here were critical in the liberation of Mosul three years ago. Besmaya serves as a shining example of Iraqi military capability,” said the coalition's deputy commander for strategy Maj. Gen Gerald Strickland, according to a statement circulated by the coalition.
The handover comes less than 24 hours after a rocket attack targeted the base on Friday afternoon, causing material damage to the site.
No group has claimed responsibility for the incident.
The is the seventh base to be transferred to Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) this year, according to the statement.
Troops will be withdrawn from the base “in the coming days.”
The coalition says it is repositioning its forces across Iraq due to the ISF’s “success in the campaign against Daesh,” using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
The base, located approximately 50 kilometers southwest of Baghdad, was mostly led by Spanish forces, who trained nearly 50,000 Iraqi military personnel at the site, according to the coalition. Approximately 450 personnel were based at the site.
The troop withdrawal from the base was announced earlier this month.
“CJTF-OIR will continue to relocate and consolidate personnel and equipment from Iraqi bases throughout 2020, in cooperation with the Government of Iraq,” the statement added.
The handover of bases follows a non-binding Iraqi parliament resolution calling on foreign troops to withdraw from the country following a spate of rocket attacks on Iraqi military bases, attributed to US-Iran tensions following the US assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in January.
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