NATO announces doubling of its troops in Iraq

BRUSSELS, Feb. 19 (YPA) – The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced Thursday that the Organization has decided to increase the number of its mission members in Iraq eightfold.

During a press conference held at the end of the second day of the meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Stoltenberg confirmed that the decision was to increase the number of NATO mission in Iraq from 500 to 4,000 people.

“Today we discussed the decision to expand NATO’s training mission in Iraq, to support the Iraqi forces … and make sure that ISIS will not return,” he said.

Stoltenberg added that under this decision, NATO’s training programs would include more Iraqi security institutions and areas outside the capital, Baghdad.

He pointed out that the increase in the number of NATO’s troops would come gradually, expressing the organization’s full commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq.

YPA