US forces withdrew from Ein Al-Asad base in Iraq
The Iraqi Joint Operations Command’s spokesperson, Tahsin al-Khafaji, says that the US forces have completed their withdrawal from the Ein al-Assad base, only advisers remain.
The US combat forces have completed their withdrawal from the Ein al-Assad base in Anbar Governorate, western Iraq, explaining that they will also evacuate their forces from the Al-Harir base in Erbil within days, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command's spokesperson announced Monday.
Spokesperson Tahsin al-Khafaji told Sputnik the US forces have completed their withdrawal from the Ein Al-Assad base, and only the advisers were left.
As for the Al-Harir base, a special security delegation will go there in the upcoming days to follow up the withdrawal of the US combat forces al-Khafaji added, explaining that the US combat forces will have fully withdrawn from Iraq by December 31.
A few days ago, spokesperson for the Supreme Commander of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Major General Yahya Rasool, said the Military Technical Committee had confirmed the completion of the combat missions of the coalition forces during his visit to Ain al-Assad base.
Rasool clarified that the work of the coalition forces' advisors in Ein al-Assad will be put under the direction of an Iraqi military commander and Iraqi protection.
International coalition forces to leave Iraq before 2022
It is worth noting that a few days ago, The Combined Joint Operations Command(CJOC) confirmed that the combat forces of the international coalition will leave Iraq completely before the end of this month, denying certain media reports suggesting otherwise.
The Joint Operations Command said the majority of the forces had already left Iraq, and the rest would be leaving in the coming days.
"Cooperation will continue between Iraqi security forces and the international coalition on an advisory and support level," Major General Saad Maan, head of Iraq's Security and Media Cell, told reporters.
The CJOC asserted that the advisors to remain in Iraq would be in respect of Iraq's "sovereignty and international law."
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi had said ahead of a trip to Washington on July 25 that Washington and Baghdad had "agreed in April that the US transition to a train-and-advise mission meant the US combat role would end."