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US military combat mission in Iraq to conclude by year-end: Biden
"Our role in Iraq will be...to be available to continue to train, to assist, to help, and to deal with ISIS...But we're not going be, by the end of the year, in a combat mission," Biden said as he met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi at the White House, referring to the Islamic State militant group.
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President Joe Biden speaks as he makes a statement at the South Court Auditorium at Eisenhower Executive Building February 10, 2021 in Washington, DC. President Biden made a statement on the coup in Burma. (Agence France Presse/Alex Wong/Getty Images)
P
resident Joe Biden said Monday the US military's combat mission in Iraq will formally conclude by the end of this year, a move that follows his announcement of the withdrawal of all US troops in Afghanistan.
"Our role in Iraq will be...to be available to continue to train, to assist, to help, and to deal with ISIS...But we're not going be, by the end of the year, in a combat mission," Biden said as he met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi at the White House, referring to the Islamic State militant group.
US-led forces invaded Iraq in March 2003 to overthrow then-leader Saddam Hussein, claiming the country possessed weapons of mass destruction. He was ousted from power, but no such weapons were ultimately found in the country.
After completing a withdrawal in 2011, US military forces were again deployed to Iraq from 2014 at the request of the Middle East country to help defeat the IS militants.
"Our shared fight against ISIS is critical for the stability of the region. And our counterterrorism cooperation will continue even as we shift to this new phase," Biden said.
The US troop presence in Iraq has stood at about 2,500 since late last year, according to The Associated Press.
In April this year, Biden announced that he will withdraw all the US troops in Afghanistan by the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, saying it is "time to end America's longest war."
Read also: Biden meets Kadhimi to end US mission in Iraq
Earlier this month, the Biden administration said the drawdown will conclude at the end of August.
The United States sent troops into Afghanistan in 2001 against the al-Qaida organization and the Taliban, which harbored the terrorist group, in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Although the US-led forces toppled the Taliban regime through the military invasion in Afghanistan, war has continued amid the Taliban insurgency.
