US hands over another air base to Iraqi forces

The international coalition forces, tasked with fighting the Islamic State (IS) militant group, on Saturday handed over their position in al-Habbaniyah airbase in the western province of Anbar to the Iraqi security forces.

Yehia Rasool, the spokesperson of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, said in a statement that the military position was handed over to the Iraqi forces after “fruitful dialogue” between the coalition forces and the Iraqi government.

Ali Dawood, mayor of the nearby town of al-Habbaniyah, told Xinhua that the withdrawal of the U.S.-led coalition forces from their position within al-Habbaniyah airbase, some 70 km west of Baghdad, was conducted earlier in the day with the presence of senior officials of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense and provincial officials.

The base, which also known as Camp Taqaddum, has hosted the U.S.-led coalition forces tasked to train and advise the Iraqi security forces in their battles to liberate the Iraqi areas seized by the extremist IS militants in 2014.