“As a result of this continuous strategic dialogue, batches of American forces have been withdrawn within technical timings during the past months, and more than half of those forces will be completed in the coming days,” said Kadhimi, during a televised speech for the occasion of the Iraqi Army’s 100th anniversary on Tuesday.

Kadhimi continued his remarks as follows: “Only hundreds of them will remain, for cooperation in the fields of training, rehabilitation, armament and technical support, and their redeployment outside Iraq is scheduled entirely within agreements between the two countries.”

“This development was based on the readiness of our heroic armed forces and security forces of all kinds to protect the land of Iraq and preserve the dignity of its people,” Kadhimi added.

In December 2019, Iraq and the United States began discussing the partial withdrawal of American military forces from Iraq. In January 2020, during massive protests and following an escalation of tensions between the United States and Iran, the Iraqi Council of Representatives passed a non-binding measure to "expel all foreign troops from their country," including American and Iranian troops. Following the vote, U.S. President Donald Trump initially refused to withdraw from Iraq, but began withdrawing in March.

In March 2020, the American-led coalition began the transfer of bases back to Iraqi security forces, citing developments in the multi-year mission against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). As of April 4, 2020, four bases have been transferred. The base transfers and withdrawal were accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iraq and the threat of Iranian proxies. (ILKHA)