Polish authorities don’t plan to withdraw its military contingent from Iraq despite growing instability in the region. ‘Withdrawal of Polish soldiers from Iraq is not being taken into consideration currently. We are stationed there as members of a coalition and we are a reliable ally’, said major general Tomasz Piotrowski, head of the Armed Forces Operational Command.
Polish authorities don’t plan to withdraw its military contingent from Iraq despite growing instability in the region / Picture: Polish MoD
He reminded that there are 268 Polish soldiers and contractors currently serving as members of the Polish Military Contingent in Iraq. ‘Not more than 100 members of the contingent serve at the Al-Asad airbase, while several others are stationed at Erbil’, said Piotrowski.
The Polish Military Contingent is stationed in Iraq as part of a global multinational coalition fighting with the Islamic State insurgency. It is tasked mainly with training and advising Iraqi and Jordanian special forces in fighting with Islamists, as well as enhancing security and stability in the region in a longer perspective.
Furthermore, in result of decisions taken during the 2017 NATO summit in Brussels, Poland took the role of a Lead Nation responsible for training of Iraqi operators and maintenance personnel in repairing and servicing of ex-Soviet military equipment, which is widely used by the Iraqi armed forces.