Iraq's PM says government working to end presence of US-led coalition forces in the country

Iraq's government is working on bringing an end to the presence of soldiers from a US-led coalition in the country, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said on Thursday.

The Iraqi premier's announcement comes amid heightened tensions and an escalation in attacks between the US military and Iran-backed militias, with the latter group insisting that the Iraqi government should set out a clear timetable for the withdrawal of coalition troops.

Speaking in a joint conference with Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who visited Iraq on Thursday, al-Sudani said his government was committed to reconfiguring its relationship with the coalition forces, who went to Iraq in 2015 to fight the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

"With the presence of capable Iraqi forces, the Iraqi government is heading towards ending the presence of the international coalition forces," Sudani said.

Sudani condemned strikes on bases hosting coalition troops in the country, which have increased substantially since US ally Israel launched its brutal war on Gaza in October.

But with the US conducting retaliatory strikes in Iraq on the Iran-backed groups that are attacking the bases, Sudani said foreign forces must stick to their role of training and advising Iraqi security forces.

"Engaging in military operations beyond these limits is viewed as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and is unequivocally rejected."

The US this week conducted three airstrikes in response to an attack that wounded three US soldiers at Harir airbase near Erbil, the capital city of Iraqi Kurdistan.

The Iraqi government on Tuesday condemned US airstrikes on the headquarters of armed factions within the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) that killed one person and wounded 20 others. 

Spain has more than 300 soldiers in Iraq, as part of the international anti-IS coalition and NATO's mission in the country. Sanchez said during the press conference said that he supported Iraq's "sovereignty and stability".

The US has 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 more in neighbouring Syria, on a mission to advise and assist local forces in fighting IS, who in 2014 seized swathes of territory in both countries. 

The US-led coalition helped territorially defeat IS in Iraq in 2017 and Syria two years later, but sleeper cells of the extremist group still carry out attacks in both countries.

Iraq's parliament asked the government to set a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops based in the country back in March 2018.