Iraq says US strikes push government to end mission of US-led coalition
PHOTO CAPTION: An Iraqi Terminal Attack Controller (ITAC) (left) and Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) communicate with air support during a live fire exercise held at Mosul Dam, Iraq on October 22, 2021. (U.S. Army Photo by Spc. Trevor Franklin via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)
BAGHDAD (Reuters) -Repeated U.S. strikes on Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq are pushing the Baghdad government to end the mission of the U.S.-led coalition in the country, the prime minister's military spokesperson said on Thursday.
The U.S. military said one such strike on Wednesday had killed a commander from Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed armed group in Iraq that the Pentagon has blamed for attacking its troops.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani described the U.S. strike as "a clear example of American state terrorism" and a violation of Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Yahya Rasool, military spokesperson for Iraqi Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani, said in a statement the U.S.-led coalition "has become a factor for instability and threatens to entangle Iraq in the cycle of conflict".
Talks began in January on the future of the coalition, but less than 24 hours later three U.S. soldiers were killed in an attack in Jordan that the United States said was carried out by Iran-backed militant groups in Syria and Iraq.
The talks have since paused, with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein calling for their resumption in a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday.
Any discussions over the future of the coalition are expected to take months if not longer, with the outcome unclear.
The U.S.-led international military coalition in Iraq was set up to fight Islamic State. The United States has 2,500 troops in Iraq, advising and assisting local forces to prevent a resurgence of the group.
Since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began in October, Iraq and Syria have witnessed almost daily tit-for-tat attacks between hardline Iran-backed armed groups and U.S. forces stationed in the region.
(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah and Timour Azhari; Editing by Michael Georgy, Timothy Heritage and Angus MacSwan)
