The Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah is preparing to pull its cadre of commanders and military advisers from Iraq, with the group’s leader saying Monday it had achieved its goal of defeating the Islamic State in the Middle East country, like reported by washingtontimes.com.
During a televised address from Beirut, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said its operations against ISIS in Iraq were coming quickly to an end, and the group needed to redeploy those commanders and advisers “in any other arena that needs them.”
Hezbollah fighters in Iraq will remain in place, for the time being, until Baghdad gives the official word that their forces are no longer needed in the country, Mr. Nasrallah said.
“Daesh is essentially done. Iraqi forces have made their way to the Syrian-Iraqi border. But we are waiting for the final victory. It is not far off that this will be announced or completed,” the terror group leader said Monday, using the derogatory Arabic term for ISIS.
“If we find that it’s over, that there is no need for the presence of these brothers, they will return,” he added during the televised address.
Mr. Nasrallah’s comments come days after Iraqi security forces and members of the Shia paramilitary groups known as Popular Mobilization Forces or PMFs, backed by American airpower, retook the northern Iraqi city of Rawa on Friday.
