US-Led Coalition Announces End of Operation Against Islamic State in Iraq

Photo from Ukrinform–UATV

 

The US-led coalition announced on April 30, the end of major combat operations against the Islamic State in Iraq.

It did so by announcing the “deactivation” of its land forces command headquarters.

“The Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command (CJFLCC) Headquarters was deactivated today at a ceremony in Baghdad, signifying the end of major combat operations against ISIS (Islamic State) in Iraq and acknowledging the changing composition and responsibilities of the coalition,” the statement by the international coalition said.

The coalition further explained that its relationship with the Iraqi armed forces would evolve “from supporting and enabling combat operations to the training and development of self-sufficient Iraqi security-related capabilities.”

The CJFLCC was responsible for the land force operations, in support of the Iraqi security force, during the campaign to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq, and liberate more than 4.5 million Iraqis from the organization’s brutal control.

“The commitment and professionalism of all the men and women from all the coalition nations has been of the highest order, and Iraq is immensely grateful for their sacrifice and dedication in this task,” the spokesman for Iraqi security forces, Brigadier General Yahya Rasool Abdullah said.

Brett Mc Gurk, the U.S. envoy to the coalition, tweeted, “From Falluja to Tikrit, Baiji, Ramadi, Sinjar, Mosul and points in between, our coalition has been proud to stand beside Iraqi forces and (Kurdish) Peshmerga as they liberated their country and 4.5 million fellow citizens from ISIS.”

Part of the U.S. military will remain in Iraq to train the local army.

Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, declared victory over the Islamic State in December, five months after his forces recaptured the country’s second city Mosul, in a protracted battle with the jihadist militants. Islamic State, however, continues to carry out bombings, assassinations and ambushes in different areas of Iraq, and remains active in neighboring Syria.