Germany on Tuesday pulled some of its military personnel out of Iraq following the U.S. killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, citing security concerns.
The withdrawal concerns 35 of approximately 120 German soldiers in the country as part of a training mission for the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga forces from northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region.
On Tuesday morning, 32 soldiers stationed in Taji, north of Baghdad, were flown out to Jordan and three soldiers stationed at a headquarters in the capital were moved to Kuwait, a spokesperson for the German defense ministry said.
In a joint letter to German lawmakers on Monday, Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that the German military presence in Iraq would be “temporarily thinned out” until there was “clarity” over the future of foreign troops in Iraq.
On Sunday, Iraq’s parliament called in a nonbinding vote for an end to the foreign military presence in the country.
The letter cites security reasons for the German withdrawal, as well as an “order from the Combined Joint Task Force of Operation Inherent Resolve,” the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State.
Germany’s training exercises for the Iraqi army had already been halted Friday following Soleimani’s killing by a U.S. drone strike. The defense ministry spokesperson said this meant “that from a military viewpoint, it was not necessary to keep these troops in the country.”
“This is a temporary withdrawal of troops,” the spokesperson added. “We’re quick in responding. As soon as the situation changes — meaning that the Iraqi parliament and government invite us to continue the training mission — we can return.”
German soldiers stationed in the Kurdish region are not affected by the withdrawal for the moment but the spokesperson said German authorities would continue to monitor the situation there.