security assistance

As the United States approaches the 15th anniversary of its invasion of Iraq and continues to provide significant levels of aid to the security forces, this timeline shows some of the key events that shaped the U.S.-Iraqi security aid relationship during this period.

 

The article discusses the Trump administration's decision to put $225M in military assistance to Pakistan into the equivalent of an escrow account that Islamabad can only access if it does more to crack down on internal terror networks launching attacks on neighboring Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON — A top commander of the U.S.-led coalition battling the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria has publicly acknowledged that Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces — a loose alliance of Iranian-backed Shiite militias — are “incidentally” benefiting from the extensive support provided to Iraqi security forces under the control of Baghdad. Maj. Gen. Rupert Jones, deputy commander of the Combined Joint Task Force for Operation Inherent Resolve, noted that throughout the battle for Mosul, Iraq, and up until last week, the Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF, were not deployed as an integral part of those Iraqi security forces directly supported by coalition operations. But with the Aug. 20 launch of the offensive on Tal Afar, the PMF is operating in the same sector alongside three Iraqi divisions, Iraq’s counterterrorism service, police units and the country’s emergency response division to liberate Tal Afar and the remainder of Nineveh province from ISIS.

The article states that a “small number” of U.S. military personnel are assisting thousands of Yemeni government troops in a major offensive to expel militants associated with the country’s Al Qaeda offshoot from their de-facto capital.