Joint military operations by US resume in Iraq
Washington, Jan 17: The United States on Wednesday resumed joint military operations with Iraq that had been put on pause after the US drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad, the New York Times reported.
Two US military officials quoted by the paper said the Pentagon wanted to resume these operations in order to pick up the fight against the Islamic State group.
Iran missile attacks: Iran gave Iraq a heads-up before firing 22 missiles at US forces on its soil
Washington began the pause on January 5 two days after the strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani at the Baghdad airport.
The same day of the suspension furious Iraqi lawmakers voted to expel the more than 5,000 US troops that are in Iraq.
It was not immediately clear if anyone in the Iraqi government had approved the resumption of the joint military operations, the Times reported.
The
Pentagon
said
it
had
no
information
to
provide
concerning
a
resumption
when
contacted
by
AFP.
Secretary
of
state
Mike
Pompeo
said
on
Monday
that
Iraqi
leaders
have
told
him
privately
they
support
the
US
troop
presence,
despite
public
appeals
for
them
to
leave.
"They won't say so publicly. But privately they all welcome the fact that America is still there executing its counter-terror campaign," Pompeo said at a forum at Stanford University.