An Iraqi security official revealed on Wednesday that the withdrawal of U.S. forces personnel from the logistics support facility affiliated with the U.S. Embassy near Baghdad Airport was carried out almost completely in recent days, “but they will return within a short period.” This comes as the United States announced that the facility had been subjected to new attacks early Wednesday morning carried out by Iraqi factions loyal to Iran.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Alhurra that the withdrawal process was conducted secretly over the past two weeks, “with most of them transported by land to Erbil and Jordan, accompanied only by Iraqi counterterrorism forces.”
The Iraqi security official indicated that those currently remaining are only contractors working with the U.S. Army of African nationalities who operate within the logistics support center. He added that the operation also included transferring Iraqi interpreters to Qatar, along with the departure of NATO personnel, including Polish, Australian, and French members.
He explained that the remaining vehicles, equipment, and materiel inside the logistics support center were also destroyed, noting that the process took place during an undeclared truce between the armed factions and the United States.
The official continued, saying that U.S. officers informed their Iraqi counterparts before leaving that they intend to return within about a month, bringing more advanced equipment and defensive systems to protect the facility from repeated targeting.
For its part, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) declined to comment on the information contained in this report. A defense official told Alhurra that the United States “does not discuss force posture for reasons related to operational security.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department said that the United States mission in Iraq remains open and is operating under what it described as an “orderly departure” aimed at supporting U.S. citizens in Iraq and advancing the administration’s foreign policy priorities.
A spokesperson for the department added to Alhurra that “the U.S. team continues to review all necessary options to ensure the safety of personnel and facilities,” saying, “there is no higher priority than the safety of our team.”
The spokesperson said that the “Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center is a diplomatic annex affiliated with the State Department and has long provided logistical and medical support to U.S. diplomatic personnel in Iraq.”
On Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said in a statement that Iraqi armed factions loyal to Iran carried out several drone attacks near the diplomatic support center and Baghdad International Airport on April 8.
The embassy warned that these factions intend to carry out additional attacks against U.S. citizens and U.S.-related targets across Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Iraq has witnessed, since the outbreak of the war between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other on February 28, attacks carried out by armed factions targeting U.S. interests, Iraqi military sites, as well as energy facilities and civilian airports in Baghdad, Basra, and Erbil.
In contrast, facilities belonging to those factions have been subjected to aerial attacks of unknown origin, with no party claiming responsibility for the strikes. However, a defense official told Alhurra on March 9 that U.S. forces are conducting strikes against Iran-linked faction sites in Iraq.
The withdrawal of personnel from the logistics support facility affiliated with the U.S. Embassy coincided with NATO’s announcement on March 20 that its mission in Iraq had safely relocated all its personnel from the Middle East to Europe, amid the escalating security situation in Iraq.
The logistics support facility located within Camp Victory near Baghdad Airport had been subjected to near-daily attacks since the outbreak of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, before these attacks stopped and sharply declined on March 19.
The halt coincided with an announcement by the militia “Kataib Hezbollah Iraq,” designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, that it was suspending its attacks on the U.S. Embassy for a specified period “as a result of efforts led by the Iraqi government, supported by influential parties within the ruling Shiite Coordination Framework,” according to information obtained by Alhurra from Shiite political sources.
The article is a translation of the original Arabic.
Ghassan Taqi
A journalist specializing in Iraqi affairs, he has worked with the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) since 2015. He previously spent several years with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, as well as various Iraqi and Arab media outlets.
