The Pentagon announced on Monday that it was not preparing to withdraw about 2,500 US troops from Iraq, although Baghdad announced last week that it would begin the process of evacuating the US-led military coalition from the country, Reuters reported.

American militaryPhoto: dpa picture alliance / Alamy / Alamy / Profimedia

“Now I don’t know about any plans (to withdraw – n. ed.). We are still very focused on the mission of defeating ISIS,” said Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, referring to the Islamic State by an appropriate acronym.

He added that American forces are in Iraq at the request of the government of this country.

Ryder said he had no information about any request from the Iraqi government to the Defense Department to withdraw U.S. forces, and referred questions about possible diplomatic negotiations to the State Department. (Source: Agerpres)