Iraq says US strikes push government to end mission of US-led coalition

BAGHDAD: Repeated US strikes on Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq are pushing the Baghdad government to end the mission of the US-led coalition in the country, the prime minister’s military spokesperson said on Thursday.

The US military said one such strike on Wednesday had killed a commander from Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed armed group in Iraq that the Pentagon has blamed for attacking its troops.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani described the US strike as “a clear example of American state terrorism” and a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Yahya Rasool, military spokesperson for Iraqi Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani, said in a statement the US-led coalition “has become a factor for instability and threatens to entangle Iraq in the cycle of conflict”.

Talks began in January on the future of the coalition, but less than 24 hours later three US soldiers were killed in an attack in Jordan that the United States said was carried out by Iran-backed militant groups in Syria and Iraq.

The talks have since paused, with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein calling for their resumption in a phone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday.