The US military mission in Iraq will end before the end of this year, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Juma Inad.
The parties discussed the further stage of the US stay in Iraq, which will focus on “consulting, assistance and exchange of intelligence” with the Iraqi military in the framework of the campaign against Daesh “(the Arabic name for the Islamic State group banned in Russia).
The head of the Pentagon condemned the attempted attack on the residence of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazimi and expressed the hope that the formation of the new Iraqi government would proceed peacefully.
The meeting of the heads of the defense departments of the two countries took place on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue international conference on regional security held annually in Bahrain, RIA Novosti reports.
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