Residual Force May Stay to Deter Attacks on Kurds
Combat troops have begun to leave the allied security zone in northern Iraq, but no date has yet been set for a final withdrawal from the haven set up to protect Kurdish refugees, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. John M. Shalikashvili said Wednesday.
Shalikashvili, commander of Operation Provide Comfort, told reporters at the allied headquarters at Zakhu in northern Iraq that the allies may decide to leave a residual force to deter attacks on the Kurds by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Shalikashvili on Wednesday met leaders of the Kurdish community, who are increasingly fearful of losing their protection against the Iraqi military. He said later that he had “avoided giving assurances to the Kurds from the start.”
The forces leaving now include front-line combat troops, according to Shalikashvili. British officers said artillery has been taken back over the border into Turkey.
“We can no longer mount an attack, but we can defend the zone easily because we have this massive American air cover,” said Lt. Mark Gray, a British marine.
Allied troops involved in Operation Provide Comfort are down to about 12,500, about half of them Americans, from a peak of 21,700.
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