The military mission, which expires in October, will be extended through January 31, 2026, maintaining a maximum deployment of 500 soldiers, the Defence Ministry announced.
German forces are based in Baghdad and Erbil. They have 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. Consisting of 84 nations, the United States-led coalition’s mission has been “degrading and ensuring Daesh’s enduring defeat,” it says on its website, using an Arabic acronym for the extremist group.
German troops are also in the country as part of NATO’s mission, which focuses on security sector reforms.
ISIS swept through large parts of Iraq in 2014, seizing land and committing countless atrocities, including genocide. The group was territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017, but it continues to pose serious security risks through hit-and-run attacks, bombings, and abductions, particularly in the disputed areas between Baghdad and Erbil.
Weapons provided by Germany, especially the guided anti-tank MILAN missiles, were essential to Peshmerga forces’ fight against the terror group.
Baghdad is engaged in talks with the United States-led coalition against ISIS to wind down the mission and end the presence of foreign troops in Iraq.
“In the talks between Iraq and the US, we have reached an agreement for the international coalition forces against the Islamic State (ISIS), including US forces, to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2025,” Sabhan Mullah Jiad, an advisor to the Iraqi prime minister, told Rudaw earlier this month.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States ambassador to the United Nations, told Rudaw’s Diyar Kurda in a press briefing on Wednesday that discussions "are still taking place with the Iraqi government on that issue."
She said that the US will continue to "defend our interests" in the country “until we pull out of Iraq. And so the attacks that we are experiencing will be a source of concern for us and certainly we will respond."
Baghdad began pushing for the end of the coalition mission after the US carried out deadly strikes against Iraqi militias it accused of attacking American interests in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan.
