Germany expects to keep troops in Iraq’s Erbil, says foreign minister

The German government expects the country’s Bundeswehr armed forces to maintain a presence in Erbil in northern Iraq even after the multinational mission there ends in September, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Friday.

“In principle, we want to remain engaged in Erbil with the Bundeswehr,” Wadephul said in Berlin.

He added that he considered this “the right thing to do and necessary from a foreign policy perspective.” The details are currently still being discussed within the coalition government, said Wadephul.

Germany currently has only about 30 military personnel stationed at a field camp in Erbil under the US-led Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), although the broader German mandate authorizes up to 500 soldiers across the region.

Wadephul said he did not think the German parliament’s lower house, the Bundestag, would need to specially approve an extended deployment.

‘Positive outcome’ must be preserved

Under OIR, Germany is supporting Iraq mainly by training soldiers. Focusing on Erbil, the mission’s primary objective is to prevent the resurgence of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.

OIR will end at the end of September at Iraq’s request, said Wadephul. This means that troops from other countries will be withdrawing from there and that Germany, too, will scale back the scope of its involvement.

According to the minister, one positive outcome of the fight against Islamic State militants is that the group has been permanently weakened in Iraq, has lost its territorial presence, and the number of its terrorist attacks is on the decline.

“We must not jeopardize this positive outcome and our contribution to Iraq’s stability, particularly in the northern Kurdish region,” he said.