Iraq says US troop drawdown talks will go on ‘as long as nothing disturbs the peace of the talks’

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Iraqi government met again with the U.S. government Sunday on how to draw down American troops who have been deployed there for years combating the Islamic State.

The two governments had held their first, long-awaited meeting Jan. 27, but those meetings had been put on pause after Iran-backed militants struck a base in Jordan the very next day with a drone that killed three U.S. service members.

In the weeks since, the U.S. has launched multiple retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria including a strike last week that killed a high-ranking commander of the powerful Kataib Hezbollah militia who the U.S. said is responsible for “directly planning and participating in attacks” on American troops in the region.

Both Iraq and the U.S. had agreed last August to enter into talks to transition U.S. forces from their long-standing role in assisting Iraq in combating IS. There are approximately 2,500 troops in the country, and their departure will take into account the security situation on the ground, and the capabilities of the Iraqi armed forces, the Iraq government said in a statement Sunday posted to X, formerly Twitter.

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