BERLIN, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Following tensions over the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, the German government was moving some of its soldiers stationed in Iraq to Jordan and Kuwait, the German armed forces Bundeswehr confirmed on Tuesday.
The Bundeswehr announced on Twitter that "due to the temporary suspension of the training mission and the current security situation in Iraq, the presence of the German contingent has been temporarily reduced by staff currently not required".
Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas informed representatives of the federal parliament Bundestag in a letter that German soldiers, especially located in Baghdad and Taji, would be "temporarily thinned out".
In the letter, the ministers confirmed that talks on a continuation of the mission in Iraq were continuing with the government in Baghdad, according to Deutsche Presse Agentur.
On Tuesday, an Airbus A400M had already taken 32 German soldiers from the military base in Taji to Jordan. In the central Iraqi military complex of Taji, some 30 kilometers north of Baghdad, German soldiers were deployed to train Iraqi forces.
Three German soldiers stationed in Baghdad, together with soldiers from other countries, were transferred to Kuwait on order of the headquarters of Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-lead joint international operation against IS (the Islamic State), the Bundeswehr announced.
On Sunday, the Iraqi parliament had demanded the withdrawal of the nearly 5,000 U.S. soldiers stationed in the country and all other foreign troops.
