On April 7, forces of the US-led coalition in Iraq handed over a headquarters of French advisers in Baghdad to Iraqi security forces.
Yehia Rasool, a spokesperson of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, said in a statement that the handover of the coalition’s site came after “fruitful dialogue” between US-led coalition forces and the Iraqi government.
Rasool did not name the site, but according to local media the coalition withdrew a detachment of French advisers from a military base in Baghdad’s western suburb of Abu Ghraib.
The Abu Ghraib base became the fifth military base of the US-led coalition in Iraq that has been abandoned by US-led forces. The previous ones were of al-Qaim and al-Habbaniyah in western Iraq, and al-Qayyara and K1 in the north.
On January 5, the Iraqi Parliament passed a resolution requiring the Iraqi government to put an end to the presence of US-led coalition forces in Iraq. This happened two days after a U.S. drone strike on a convoy at Baghdad airport, which killed Qassem Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolution Guards Corps and several other prominent Iranian and Iraqi commanders.
There are over 5,000 U.S. troops deployed in Iraq in the framework of the US ‘effort against ISIS’ in the Middle East. Local soruces claim that the US is just using the ISIS threat as a pretext to continue its operations in the area.
US Forces Preparing To Withdraw From Abu Ghraib Base
The US-led coalition purportedly fighting Daesh [the Arabic acronym for terrorist ‘ISIS/ISIL’ group] in Iraq is reportedly preparing to evacuate troops from a military base in the city of Abu Ghraib, west of the capital Baghdad.
Iraqi media outlets reported on Tuesday that the US occupation forces decided to withdraw from the base in Abu Ghraib and hand it over to the Iraqi forces in the coming hours.
According to the reports, Abu Ghraib base would be the sixth base to have returned to the Iraqi army in the recent weeks.
Iraqis believe the recent withdrawal of US occupation forces from a number of military bases is “a military tactic,” amid reports that Washington is drawing up plans to target commanders of the Popular Mobilization Units [PMU, known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Shaabi.
In late March, the PMU blew the lid off a plot by the US military to carry out massive aerial operations — backed by ground troops – against bases of the elite anti-terror force, which is currently busy helping the government in the fight against a new coronavirus pandemic.
Days later, US media reported that the Pentagon has ordered military commanders to plan for an escalation of American operations in Iraq.
Iraq’s anti-terror resistance groups say they stand fully ready to counter any possible attack by US occupation forces, saying that they are also on high alert for any false-flag US operation.
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