US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Baghdad today for a surprise visit aimed at "reaffirming the strategic partnership" between Iraq and the US, it was announced on his Twitter account.
"Landing in Baghdad. I am here to reaffirm the US-Iraq strategic partnership as we move towards a more secure, stable and sovereign Iraq," the Pentagon chief wrote on his Twitter account.
He came as Iraq marks 20 years since the US invasion against Saddam Hussein's government. The offensive launched on March 20, 2003 by American troops supported by an international coalition opened one of the bloodiest pages in Iraqi history.
Diplomatic activity has been active in Baghdad in recent weeks. Iraqi leaders received the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Iran and Russia ahead of a visit by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in early March.
Baghdad, which is an ally of Iran, also maintains very strong ties with Washington, especially on the military front. Those alliances sometimes impose a delicate balancing act on Iraqi officials.
American troops are still deployed in Iraq as part of the US-led international coalition to fight the extremists of the Islamic State group.
The extremists who were defeated in Iraq in 2017 continue to carry out deadly attacks in the country and the international coalition is still mobilized to prevent their resurgence.
At the end of 2021, Iraq announced the end of the combat mission of the international coalition that is still deployed on Iraqi soil to continue its training and advisory role.
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