US coalition transfers another base to Iraqi security forces
The US-led coalition against the Islamic State has announced the transfer of another military base to Iraqi security forces as a temporary precaution against the coronavirus outbreak.
The US-led coalition assembled to fight the Islamic State has transferred another military base to the Iraqi security forces as part of a planned drawdown in the country, the coalition said Thursday.
In handing over Qayyarah Airfield West in northern Iraq, a statement from the coalition noted success in the fight against the militants.
“The [Iraqi Security Forces] increasingly conducts independent operations in the fight against Daesh and the defense of their homeland,” said Brig. Gen. Vincent Barker, using an alternate term for the Islamic State.
The sprawling base south of Mosul, known as Q-West, was used by US forces during the Iraq War but was captured by the Islamic State when the group swept across northern Iraq in 2014. The airfield, retaken by the Iraqi and coalition forces in 2016, served as a launch pad in the nine-month battle to liberate the city of Mosul and remains a hub for the Iraqi air force.
