BAGHDAD — Iraq ’s prime minister said Monday that a small contingent of U.S. military advisers will remain in the country for now to coordinate with U.S. forces in neighboring Syria combating the Islamic State group.
Washington and Baghdad agreed last year to wind down a U.S.-led coalition fighting IS in Iraq by this September, with U.S. forces departing some bases where they have been stationed.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani told journalists in Baghdad that U.S. military advisers and support personnel are now stationed at the Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq, a base adjacent to the Baghdad airport, and the al-Harir air base in northern Iraq.
Al-Sudani noted that the agreement originally stipulated a full pullout of U.S. forces from Ain al-Asad by September, but