Iraqi PM vows to end US-led coalition presence in country

The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, on Friday reiterated his pledge to end the presence of the United States-led coalition in the country.

The PM was reacting to the killing of Iraqi security personnel and militia leaders in the US airstrikes.

Al-Sudani, who spoke at an event in Baghdad to mark the fourth anniversary of the killing of Iranian military commander, Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi counterpart, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, said his government would soon start talks with the coalition to arrange the withdrawal of foreign troops in the country.

Soleimani and al-Muhandis were killed in the US drone strikes near Baghdad airport in 2020.

READ ALSO: Iraqi PM, al-Kadhimi, survives drone assassination attempt

The American troops have been in Iraq since 2003.

The Iraqi PM accused the coalition of repeating the “crime” of killing Soleimani and al-Muhandis by attacking the headquarters of the state-backed Hashd Shaabi paramilitary forces on Thursday and killing the leader of one of its brigades and two others.

“The Hashd Shaabi forces are official forces affiliated with the state and an integral part of the armed forces,” al-Sudani said, adding that the US strike goes beyond the spirit of the mandate that formed the (anti-Islamic State) international coalition.

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