ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on Tuesday said that he was not worried about the security of his country’s troops in Iraq amid attacks on US forces in the country due to Washington’s support of Israel.
A pro-Iran militia group has claimed dozens of drone and rocket attacks against US troops based in Iraq and Syria since last month, attributing them to Washington’s support for Israel in its fight against the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas Movement in Gaza Strip.
Pistorius told Rudaw’s Zinar Shino during a press briefing in Brussels that he is closely monitoring the developments in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, adding that there is no serious reason to worry about the security of our military advisors in Iraq.
Germany has been an essential member of the global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS). The coalition was formally established in October 2014, after ISIS took control of vast swathes of territories in Iraq and Syria.
Last month, Germany decided to keep its armed forces deployed in Iraq until October 31, 2024.
“I believe there would be no need to change our policy in Iraq, but the decision to extend our forces’ mandate allows us to increase the number of our troops,” the German defense minister said last month.
However, he also said earlier in October that his government extended its military mission in Iraq because the situation in the country was not calm.
Hundreds of Iraqi protesters in July stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and set it on fire after Swedish police approved more burnings of the Quran.
Gonul Eglence, a member of the regional parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia, told Rudaw in August that the Iraqi asylum seekers should not be deported to Iraq because it is not a safe country.
