US troops still hold 20 military bases in Iraq

Updated: 2011-10-19 16:10

(Xinhua)

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BAGHDAD - The US forces have 20 military bases in Iraq which would be handed over to the Iraqi government ahead of their withdrawal deadline on December 31, government spokesman said.

"The US forces were evacuating soldiers and equipment from military bases, and are handing over those bases and military sites to the Iraqi government," Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement obtained by Xinhua on Tuesday.

There are only 20 US bases that remain under control of the US troops, after they evacuated from 485 bases and military sites, he said.

US military forces are to pull out completely from Iraq by the end of 2011, according to a security pact, named Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), signed late in 2008 between Baghdad and Washington.

Earlier in the day, an official in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala told Xinhua that the US military pulled out over 70 percent of its troops from the province.

"So far, more than 70 percent of the US forces stationed in the province withdrew from their bases pursuant to the terms of the security agreement named SOFA," Dleir Hassan, deputy chief of the security committee of Diyala's provincial council said.

Hassan said that there are about 1,000 US troops, for the time being, in the province who are mainly deployed in joint military bases with Iraqi forces.

He said the remaining troops would not have active role in military operations in the province.

However, the two countries are in talks about whether to have a small number of US military trainers to stay in the country after December to train Iraqi forces. Yet, they have been unable to agree whether or not to grant immunity to the trainers as required by the US government.