- Amid conflict with Iran, a US-led coalition formed to fight the threat of ISIS in Iraq and Syria has been reassigned to protecting the bases that house its own troops.
- The forces of the Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve, an international coalition of soldiers founded by the US Department of Defense, announced on Sunday that its resources were reassigned to protecting its personnel and facilities in Iraq.
- It said its other activities, including its operations against ISIS, were on hold.
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Amid conflict with Iran, a US-led coalition formed to fight the threat of ISIS in Iraq and Syria has been reassigned to protecting the bases that house its own troops.
The Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve, an international coalition of soldiers founded by the US Department of Defense, announced on Sunday that its forces were reassigned to protecting its personnel and facilities in Iraq.
It said its other activities, including its operations against ISIS, were on hold.
"We are now fully committed to protecting the Iraqi bases that host Coalition troops," the coalition said, in a statement. "This has limited our capacity to conduct training with partners and to support their operations against Daesh and we have therefore paused these activities, subject to continuous review."
Iraq has been at the center of flaring tensions between the US and Iran in recent weeks.
The conflict came to a head on Dec. 27, when a US civilian contractor was killed, and several soldiers were injured, by an Iran-backed attack on an Iraqi military base. About a week later, US president Donald Trump ordered a US airstrike that killed a top Iranian general, Qassam Soleimani, as he was leaving Baghdad's international airport.
A military advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader told CNN to expect Iran to retaliate by attacking US military sites.
On Saturday, two rockets reportedly landed at Iraq's US Embassy in Baghdad, and another two hit an airbase that was housing US troops about 50 miles north of the city. But it was not reported who launched the attacks. No injuries or causalities were reported.
Separately, Iraq's parliament responded to the conflict on Sunday by passing a resolution to end the presence of foreign troops and restrict their use of its resources. The resolution reportedly said the government would "revoke its request for assistance from the international coalition fighting Islamic State."