Iraqi fighters say they have halted anti-us attacks
BAGHDAD: An array of fighter groups have suspended rocket attacks on US forces on condition that Iraq’s government present a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops, one of the groups said on Sunday.
A spokesman, one of the most powerful fighter groups in Iraq, said the groups were presenting no set deadline, but that if US troops “insisted on staying” they would unleash much more violent attacks.
Washington, which is slowly reducing its 5,000 troops in Iraq, threatened last month to shut its embassy unless the Iraqi government reins in fighters that have attacked US interests with rockets and roadside bombs.
The US warning caused alarm in Iraq, where it was seen as a step towards air strikes, potentially turning Iraq into a battleground in a proxy war. A broad array of politicians called on the fighters to stop provoking the Americans.
“The factions have presented a conditional ceasefire,” Hizbullah spokesman Mohammed Mohi said. “It includes all factions of the (antius) resistance, including those who have been targeting US forces.”
On Saturday, fighter groups calling themselves the “Iraqi Resistance Coordination Commission” published a statement suggesting they would suspend attacks in return for a clear plan for US troops to leave.
Mohi did not specify which groups had drafted the statement. He said the Iraqi government must implement a parliamentary resolution in January calling for foreign troops to withdraw.
Iraq is one of the few countries with close ties to both the US and Iran, both of which provided military support to help defeat IS fighters, who were beaten back in a three-year war after seizing a third of Iraq in 2014. Iraqis have long feared their country could become a proxy battleground, especially since Washington killed military mastermind Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike at Baghdad airport in January.