NATO to Increase Troops Stationed in Iraq Tenfold

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo Yoo-jin] The NATO-led coalition forces under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) plan to increase the number of troops stationed in Iraq by up to 10 times.

On the 16th (local time), major foreign media outlets, citing multiple diplomatic sources, reported that NATO member countries' defense ministers are expected to agree at this month's meeting to increase the number of troops conducting training missions in Iraq from the current 500 to 4,000?5,000.

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, expressed hope that member countries would agree to expand the training mission for the Iraqi army, stating, "The mission will be gradually expanded according to the situation."

NATO member countries' defense ministers agreed last October to expand the training mission for the Iraqi army, with the specific scope to be determined at the meeting on the 17th?18th.

Initially, NATO planned to expand the Iraqi army training mission at the request of former U.S. President Donald Trump, but implementation was delayed due to the spread of COVID-19 and the situation in the Middle East.

Currently, due to the unstable security situation in Iraq, diplomatic sources reported that Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi is hoping for NATO's mission expansion.

Since October 2018, NATO has been conducting a non-combat mission in Baghdad to train the Iraqi army to counter the Islamic extremist armed group 'Islamic State' (IS).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.