According to the outlet, the mission, which was temporarily suspended following the assasination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad in a US drone strike, began again this weekend. However, the German operations in central Iraq have not been resumed yet.
The Bundeswehr has already re-launched its reconnaissance flights as part of its international mission against terrorists in the region. Tornado jets will continue to operate from the Jordanian Al-Asrak Airbase until the end of March. They are supposed to locate IS hideaways in Syria and Iraq, Sputnik news agency reported.
Although around 90 German instructors remained at the base in Erbil in Kurdistan Region. Bundeswehr staffers from central Iraq, as well as units from other countries, were relocated to Kuwait and Jordan after the US assasinated the Iranian commander in a drone strike on 3 January.
In response, Iran fired missiles at bases in Iraq where American troops were stationed.
Amid the escalation, the Iraqi parliament voted for all foreign troops to withdraw from the country in response to the US attack. However, as German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas revealed, the Iraqi government wishes the Bundeswehr mission in Iraq to continue, saying Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi had confirmed this to the German cabinet.
Germany’s Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has reportedly also weighed opportunities in Iraq's capital Baghdad to continue the international operations against terrorists.
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