RIGA, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Latvian soldiers currently training Iraqi forces will be withdrawn from the country if the Iraqi government asks them to leave, Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said on television Wednesday.
Asked to comment on the Iraqi parliament's resolution demanding a pullout of U.S. and other foreign troops amid the recent escalation in the region, the Latvian prime minister said that the Latvian soldiers joined the broad multinational coalition fighting the Islamic State terrorist group in Iraq at the Iraqi government's request.
For the time being, there have been no pullout demands from the Iraqi government and the Latvian servicemen continue to train the Iraqi soldiers.
"We are there with a clear mandate to help fight Islamic State," Karins said, noting that although the Iraqi parliament has called for foreign troops' withdrawal, the country's government has yet to respond.
Karins said that if the Iraqi government asks foreign troops to leave, Latvia will pull out its contingent from that country.
