JEDDAH: The US will pull almost half its troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan by November, the American military commander for the Middle East said on Wednesday.
Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of US Central Command, said the reduction in Iraq from 5,200 troops to 3,000 reflected the Trump administration’s confidence in the ability of Iraqi security forces to handle the militant threat from Daesh.
In Afghanistan, the US reduced its presence to 8,600 troops in June, and it will now drop to 4,500 by November.
Speaking in Iraq on Wednesday, McKenzie said the US could continue supporting the Iraqi military in its fight against Daesh, but said the “ultimate goal” was an Iraq where local forces by themselves could prevent the extremists from returning. The remaining US troops would continue advising and assisting Iraqi security forces as they attempt to root out remnants of Daesh.
“The US decision is a clear demonstration of our continued commitment to the ultimate goal, which is an Iraqi security force that is capable of preventing a Daesh resurgence and of securing Iraq’s sovereignty without external assistance. The journey has been difficult, the sacrifice has been great, but the progress has been significant,” he said.
US troops invaded Iraq in 2003 and left in 2011, but returned in 2014 after Daesh overran large parts of Iraq. Although US President Donald Trump has talked of withdrawing completely from Iraq, Pentagon officials have cautioned that a US troop presence remains necessary to guard against a Daesh resurgence and to help the Iraqi government limit the political and military influence of Iran, which supports militias operating inside Iraq.
The pullout will take the US presence in Iraq to its lowest level since President Barack Obama cut troops to a token force in 2011. Obama was forced to reverse course by the rise of Daesh, taking the number of troops inside Iraq back over 5,000 as part of an international coalition to combat the militants.
US forces have been in Afghanistan since 2001 when they invaded in response to the 9/11 attacks by Al-Qaeda, for whom Afghanistan was a haven under Taliban rule. The US-led invasion quickly toppled the Taliban from power, but the ensuing conflict dragged on far longer than expected.
In June, McKenzie said the number of US troops in Afghanistan had dropped to 8,600, the level the US agreed to in a February peace deal with the Taliban that also calls on the US to withdraw entirely by next spring.
McKenzie said in recent weeks that he had doubts about a full withdrawal because of questions about the Taliban’s continued relationship with Al-Qaeda and high levels of violence in Afghanistan.
US to pull half its troops out of Iraq, Afghanistan by November
https://arab.news/8pevh
US to pull half its troops out of Iraq, Afghanistan by November
- The United States has around 5,200 troops that were deployed in Iraq to fight Daesh
- Iraq's parliament had voted earlier this year for the departure of foreign troops from Iraq
Death toll in Iran protests over 3,000, rights group says
- The protests erupted on December 28 over economic hardship and swelled into widespread demonstrations calling for the end of clerical rule
- President Donald Trump, who had threatened ‘very strong action’ if Iran executed protesters, said Tehran’s leaders had called off mass hangings
DUBAI: More than 3,000 people have died in Iran’s nationwide protests, rights activists said on Saturday, while a “very slight rise” in Internet activity was reported in the country after an eight-day blackout.
The US-based HRANA group said it had verified 3,090 deaths, including 2,885 protesters, after residents said the crackdown appeared to have broadly quelled protests for now and state media reported more arrests.
The capital Tehran has been comparatively quiet for four days, said several residents reached by Reuters. Drones were flying over the city, but there were no signs of major protests on Thursday or Friday, said the residents, who asked not to be identified for their safety.
A resident of a northern city on the Caspian Sea said the streets there also appeared calm.
The protests erupted on December 28 over economic hardship and swelled into widespread demonstrations calling for the end of clerical rule in the Islamic Republic, culminating in mass violence late last week. According to opposition groups and an Iranian official, more than 2,000 people were killed in the worst domestic unrest since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
“Metrics show a very slight rise in Internet connectivity in #Iran this morning” after 200 hours of shutdown, the Internet monitoring group NetBlocks posted on X. Connectivity remained around 2 percent of ordinary levels, it said.
A few Iranians overseas said on social media that they had been able to message users living inside Iran early on Saturday.
US President Donald Trump, who had threatened “very strong action” if Iran executed protesters, said Tehran’s leaders had called off mass hangings.
“I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been canceled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!” he posted on social media.
Iran had not announced plans for such executions or said it had canceled them.
Indian students and pilgrims returning from Iran said they were largely confined to their accommodations while in the country, unable to communicate with their families back home.
“We only heard stories of violent protests, and one man jumped in front of our car holding a burning baton, shouting something in the local language, with anger visible in his eyes,” said Z Syeda, a third-year medical student at a university in Tehran.
India’s External Affairs Ministry said on Friday that commercial flights were available and that New Delhi would take steps to secure the safety and welfare of Indian nationals.
