President Joe Biden said on Monday that U.S. forces in Iraq will end the combat mission by the end of the year while continuing to train and assist Iraqi forces, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
"Our role in Iraq will be ... continue to train, to assist, to help and to deal with ISIS (Islamic State) as it rises, but we're not going to be, by the end of the year, in a combat mission," Biden said at the beginning of a meeting in the Oval Office with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
"Our counter-terrorism cooperation will continue even as we shift to this new phase," he said.