Italy to decrease military presence in Iraq following victory over IS

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Rome plans to reduce its military presence in Iraq following Baghdad’s announcement of its “final victory” over the Islamic State (IS), said Italian Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti on Sunday.

“I can say with satisfaction that one of the goals has been achieved — IS (Da’esh) was defeated in Syria and Iraq — the country where we had a strong military presence, with about 1,500 servicemen. We intend to scale down our presence by half, reducing the contingent helping to protect the Mosul dam,” Pinotti told La Republica newspaper.

Italy is a member of the US-led coalition against IS. Their troops have been training Kurdish Peshmerga and Iraqi forces in the fight against the jihadist group over the past few years.

Italy also plans to decrease its military presence in Afghanistan, withdrawing 900 servicemen, and has already informed its international allies and the Afghan government, Pinoti said.

Rome assigned troops to guard the Italian company renovating the strategic Mosul Dam in northern Iraq which remained at risk of collapse as Iraqi and Kurdish officials raised alarm bells after the catastrophic fall of Iraq’s second largest city.

While announcing the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, the Italian official mentioned the start of a new military mission in Niger.

“Our principle is that the armed forces must deal with threats related to the country. I believe that it would be important to review the missions in order to prevent a direct effect in the zone, which we call the ‘extended Mediterranean.’ The operation in Niger is the fruit of such a strategy,” Pinotti added.

She stated that with the support of the EU and the UN, Special Forces were being formed with the help of five African countries in the Sahel.

“This territory has a fundamental importance for us, both in terms of the fight against terrorism and fight against the criminal network that controls illegal migration,” according to the Italian official.