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| US soldiers stand next to Iraqi military police vehicles lined up at the US army Forward Operating Base (FOB) in 2010 © AFP/File Ahmad al-Rubaye |
BAGHDAD (AFP) – There are just 15 American military bases left in Iraq ahead of a year-end US withdrawal, down from a peak of 505, a US general said on Wednesday.
“US Forces-Iraq (USF-I) now resides on 15 bases — nine of those are US, and six are partnered (with Iraqi forces),” said Brigadier General Rock Donahue, head of USF-I’s engineering directorate.
There are roughly 39,000 US soldiers and a further 38,500 contractors on those bases, according to a factsheet distributed by the military.
All of those bases must be handed over to Iraqi forces and US troops must be out of Iraq by the end of the year, under the terms of a 2008 bilateral security pact.
US President Barack Obama confirmed on October 21 that all American troops will leave Iraq by the end of 2011, bringing to a close a war that has stretched for more than eight years.
© AFP — Published at Activist Post with license
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