(Xinhua/NAN)
The U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Douglas Silliman on Wednesday said U.S. would withdraw more troops from Iraq in the coming months.
In a news conference in Baghdad, Silliman said “the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq has been reducing, especially in Anbar province in coordination with the Iraqi forces,’’ according to al-Sumaria News Agency.
“There will be a gradual reduction of these (U.S.) forces in the coming months without replacing them with others,’’ Silliman said.
Previously, the troops were tasked to provide support of artillery fire in addition to training and advising to the Iraqi forces, but the U.S. forces were now only focusing on training the Iraqi forces on how to preserve the liberated areas.
The troops were also tasked to provide humanitarian assistance to the displaced persons until they return to their homes, according to Silliman.
More than 5,000 U.S. troops have been deployed to Iraq to support the Iraqi forces during the battles against Islamic State (IS) militants.
The troops were part of the U.S.-led international coalition that has also been conducting air raids against IS targets in both Iraq and Syria.