Baghdad Expresses Keenness on Cooperating With NATO

An Iraqi soldier stands guard in front US military air carrier on 26 March 2020 [AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images]
An Iraqi soldier stands guard in front US military air carrier on 26 March 2020 [AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images]
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Baghdad Expresses Keenness on Cooperating With NATO

An Iraqi soldier stands guard in front US military air carrier on 26 March 2020 [AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images]
An Iraqi soldier stands guard in front US military air carrier on 26 March 2020 [AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images]

Iraq has expressed keenness on cooperating with the international community, namely with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The organization announced it would dramatically scale up its mission in Iraq from 500 personnel to 4,000.

Iraq's National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji said: "Iraq is keen to cooperate with the international community. Iraqi forces have great experiences gained through combat," noting that "exchanging experiences is crucial to confront terrorism and extremism."

This came during a meeting between Araji and the commander of the NATO mission in Iraq, Pierre Olsen.

Araji said that his country is not part of any regional problem, but rather part of the solution.

Iraq will work to benefit from the experiences of NATO because ISIS is still a threat so far, he explained.

For his part, Olsen said: “The NATO mission in Iraq continues at the request of the Iraqi leadership, and the expansion of the staff may be at the request of this country.”

Riad Al-Masoudi, a deputy in the Iraqi parliament for the "Sairoun" coalition, stated that Washington has become aware of the Iraqi pressures towards the US withdrawal of forces from Iraq. Therefore, it is attempting to return to the country through NATO.

Fatah coalition spokesman Abbas al-Zamili commented saying that no foreign force can enter the country without a prior agreement with the Iraqi government, which gets should get the parliament’s approval first.

Iraq is a sovereign country that doesn’t need a foreign presence on its territories, he stressed.



Series of Israeli Airstrikes Hit Central Beirut, At Least 1 Building Destroyed

Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Series of Israeli Airstrikes Hit Central Beirut, At Least 1 Building Destroyed

Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Powerful Israeli airstrikes targeted central Beirut on Saturday, resulting in a large number of fatalities and injuries and destroying an eight-story building, Lebanon's National News Agency reported.

Footage broadcast by TV stations showed at least one destroyed building and several others badly damaged around it in the Basta neighborhood.

Israel used bunker buster bombs in the strike, leaving a deep crater, said NNA. Beirut smelled strongly of explosives hours after the attack.
The blasts shook the capital around 4 a.m.

NNA said at least five bombs were dropped in the attack.
It marked the fourth Israeli airstrike this week targeting a central area of Beirut, where the bulk of Israel's attacks have targeted the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs.

On Sunday an Israeli airstrike killed Hezbollah's media relations chief Mohammad Afif in the Ras al-Nabaa district of central Beirut.

The Israeli military did not issue a warning for Basta's residents to evacuate prior to the strike and did not immediately issue a statement on it.

Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs.

Meanwhile, heavy ground fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants was ongoing in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops have pushed farther from the border.