Iraq still needs US help to defeat Islamic State, foreign minister says
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein made the remarks ahead of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s visit to Washington on Monday.
Iraq still needs support from the US-led coalition to defeat the Islamic State, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said Friday amid reports the Biden administration is planning to withdraw combat troops from the country.
“There’s still terrorist activities for ISIS in Iraq,” Hussein said alongside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday, using a common abbreviation for the Islamic State.
Hussein highlighted the Islamic State-claimed bombing at a busy market in Baghdad’s Sadr City on Monday, which left more than 30 people dead. In recent months, the Iraqi capital has experienced several attacks attributed to the Sunni terrorist group, which has maintained a low-level insurgency since Iraq announced the Islamic State’s territorial defeat in 2017.
“We need cooperation with the international coalition and to work with the international coalition under the leadership of the United States and to exchange information with the international coalition, the United States and with Iraq to defeat ISIS,” Hussein said.
