Germany moves soldiers from Iraq to Jordan, Kuwait …Egypt suspends Baghdad flights

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TEHRAN, Iran, Jan 7, (Agencies): The killing of Soleimani has drastically raised regional tensions and escalated a crisis between Washington and Tehran.

German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas wrote to lawmakers that the troops in the Iraqi bases in Baghdad and Taji would be “temporarily thinned out,” news agency dpa reported Tuesday.

The two officials stressed that talks with the Iraqi government on a continuation of the mission to train Iraqi troops would go on. Germany has a small contingent of some 120 soldiers in Iraq, though the majority are not stationed in Taji and Baghdad but elsewhere in Iraq.

NATO, meanwhile, said it was shifting some of its troops out of Iraq after Baghdad called for foreign forces to leave the country, but the US-led military alliance hopes to return to continue training the Iraqi military if asked once calm is restored.

The 29-nation military organization has around 500 troops in Iraq – mostly from Canada, Spain and Turkey – who are helping to train and build Iraq’s security forces so they can combat the Islamic State group alone.

It wasn’t immediately clear how many troops would be moved out. “We have temporarily suspended our training on the ground, and we are taking all precautions necessary to protect our people,” NATO said.

“This includes the temporary re-positioning of some personnel to different locations both inside and outside of Iraq.” Separate from the NATO contingent, Germany’s Defense Ministry said its 32 soldiers stationed at Taji were flown overnight to the Azraq air base in Jordan, where German planes helping in the fight against the Islamic State group are based.

Three soldiers in Baghdad were taken along with colleagues from other countries to Kuwait by the headquarters of the anti-I.S. Operation Inherent Resolve, it added.

Egypt suspends air flights
Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation declared on Tuesday suspension of EgyptAir flights to the Iraqi capital Baghdad due to current security conditions in the country.

The ministry information adviser, Bassem Abdel Karim, said in a statement the flights’ suspension would be effective as of tomorrow (Wednesday) until Friday. The ministry is monitoring the situation in coordination with various authorities to determine whether the air operations’ suspension would be extended or not.

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