NATO to send up to 3,500 more troops to Iraq

NATO to send up to 3,500 more troops to Iraq
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg holds a press conference on NATO Defense Ministers' Meeting to be held on February 17-18, in Brussels, Belgium on February 15, 2021. [NATO/Pool - Anadolu Agency]

NATO defense ministers decided on Thursday to send as much as 3,500 additional troops to Iraq, Anadolu Agency reported.

« We will expand the NATO training mission in Iraq to ensure that ISIS (Daesh) doesn’t return, » the alliance’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced at a press conference.

The number of NATO personnel will be increased from the current 500 to 4,000 in the country, the NATO chief said after the virtual meeting’s second day.

Noting that the Daesh terror group still operates in Iraq, Stoltenberg said the « increase in attacks highlights the importance to increase the NATO mission. »

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