Poland pulls troops from Iraq over Middle East security risks
Defence Minister Władysław Marcin Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Friday that Poland’s military has withdrawn its troops from Iraq due to “the deteriorating security situation in the Middle East region.”
In a post on X, Kosiniak-Kamysz said the decision was taken following an analysis of potential risks.
“Our soldiers have been fully evacuated from Iraq,” he wrote, adding that the evacuation was carried out in coordination with NATO allies.
More than a hundred soldiers have already returned to Poland, a spokesman for the Armed Forces High Command told the PAP news agency. Several dozen have reportedly been redeployed to Jordan to maintain the contingent’s operations.
Poland, an EU and NATO member, sent 2,000 troops to support the US in the 2003 Iraq War and was part of the “Coalition of the Willing” alongside other Central and Eastern European countries. Polish forces also at times managed an occupation zone in Iraq.
According to figures from Poland’s National Security Council in December, the Polish military contingent in the Middle East most recently comprised 350 soldiers, who were deployed not only in Iraq but also in Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar.
