![Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi hold a joint press conference after their meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkey on December 17, 2020 [Ali Balıkçı/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/20201217_2_45911009_60724947.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said yesterday that his government has succeeded in reducing foreign forces in the country by 60 per cent, Anadolu news agency reported.
“We have succeeded in developing active diplomacy and strategic dialogue with the United States, and moved towards focusing on economic, diplomatic and cultural cooperation. We have also succeeded in reducing the number of foreign forces by 60 per cent,” Al- Kadhimi said during a meeting held at the Foreign Ministry in Baghdad.
As many as 3,000 foreign soldiers, including 2,500 Americans, are deployed in Iraq to fight Daesh.
On 5 January 2020, the Iraqi parliament voted to end the presence of foreign troops in the country, three days after the US assassinated the Iranian Quds Force Commander, Qassem Soleimani, and the deputy head of the Popular Mobilisation Forces, Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis in a drone strike near Baghdad airport.
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