BAGHDAD, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- A spokesman of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said on Sunday that it is essential that the U.S.-led international coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) group maintains a presence in Iraq despite the recent withdrawal of foreign forces from the country.
"The international coalition is still working with us, so they should have a place to work," Tahseen al-Khafaji, the JOC spokesman, told the official Iraqi News Agency (INA).
Al-Khafaji confirmed that there is a timetable for the international coalition forces to withdraw as many sites and camps were handed over to the Iraqi side, noting many experts and fighters have also withdrawn because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to INA.
"The number of coalition forces has greatly decreased and the remaining small number is committed to working with the Iraqi forces," he said.
The spokesman's comments came as unidentified militant groups have frequently fired mortar rounds and Katyusha rockets on Iraqi military bases housing U.S.-led coalition forces as well as the U.S. embassy located in the heavily fortified Green Zone in the capital Baghdad.
The attacks reportedly prompted U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to privately warn Iraq last month that the United States would close its embassy in Baghdad if the Iraqi government doesn't move to stop such attacks on the U.S. embassy.
On Aug. 20, U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed to Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi during the latter's official visit to the United States that the U.S.-led coalition forces will rapidly withdraw from Iraq within three years.
The troops' cut decision came as the Iraqi-U.S. relations have witnessed a tension since Jan. 3 when a U.S. drone struck a convoy at Baghdad airport, which killed Qassem Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chief of Iraq's paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces.
A few thousand U.S. troops are leading international coalition forces in helping the Iraqi security forces fight against the IS militants, by carrying out airstrikes against their positions in Iraq and Syria as well as providing military equipment and training for Iraqi forces. Enditem
