NATO to expand its training mission in Iraq to 4,000 troops

Jared Szuba

Jennie Carignan (R), the incoming commander of NATO's Iraq mission, is greeted by Dany Fortin, the outgoing commander of NATO's Iraq mission, during the handover ceremony in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on November 26, 2019. (Photo by SABAH ARAR / AFP) (Photo by SABAH ARAR/AFP via Getty Images) — Jennie Carignan (R), the incoming commander of NATO's Iraq mission, is greeted by Dany Fortin, the outgoing commander of NATO's Iraq mission, during the handover ceremony in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Nov. 26, 2019. — SABAH ARAR/AFP via Getty Images

NATO has agreed to significantly broaden its military advising and stabilization mission in Iraq to roughly 4,000 troops, the alliance announced Thursday.

“Today we decided to expand NATO’s training mission in Iraq to support the Iraqi forces as they fight terrorism and ensure that ISIS does not return,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels on Thursday, making a reference to the Islamic State.

“Our mission is at the request of the Iraqi government,” Stoltenberg said in a press conference at the end of the second day of NATO’s annual defense ministers’ summit.

The announcement follows more than a year of discussions between US officials, NATO representatives and Iraq’s government on the scope of the alliance’s noncombat advisory mission in the country, which has been devastated by war with the Islamic State and civil conflict following from the US invasion in 2003.

NATO to expand its training mission in Iraq to 4,000 troops

The Pentagon welcomed NATO's increased contribution to training Iraq's security forces.

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