Hundreds of thousands of foreign troops, including militias, who were deployed to the region under the pretext of fighting Daesh or supposedly providing humanitarian relief still maintain their military presence in Iraq and Syria.
The U.S., Russia, Italy, Germany, UK, Iran and France lead the military presence in both countries.
Approximately 6,000 American troops are present in Iraq and the U.S. uses the oil resources in the region as a guise. The Washington administration also deployed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) terrorists along with Peshmerga forces who are tasked with ensuring the security of the oil-wells.
Here are the approximate numbers for the foreign involvement in Iraq:
Iran: Tehran has no soldiers in Iraq but commands and controls more than 100,000 Hashd al-Shaabi soldiers. Hashd al-Shaabi is also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).
Germany: 200 military personnel.
UK: The British presence in Iraq is thought to be between 400 and 1,000 troops.
France: 500 to 1,000 soldiers.
Germany: Approximately 200 troops.
Italy: 500 troops.
Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Sweden are also among the countries who are present in Iraq, even though they have few soldiers – a total 200 troops – as part of the Global Coalition against Daesh.
The countries that are involved in Iraq are also present in Syria.
There are about 5,000 U.S. troops in Syria, positioned in 22 separate bases that control over 50,000 PKK/PYD terrorists in the region.
Russia deployed 2,000 troops in four separate bases that are thought to be dispatched to counter the the Global Coalition against Daesh.
Iran has positioned 1,000 soldiers in Syria to train militias and Assad’s forces. Iran extends its presence with between 60,000 and 70,000 Tehran-backed militias, who are also in alliance with the Syrian regime.
France maintains it presence with between 500 and 1,000 troops, and Germany follows with 100 to 200 military personnel.
Israel’s current precise number of troops are unknown that are dispatched to Golan Heights.
The military presence of foreign powers in Iraq and Syria can be evaluated as a threat to Turkey, which is a neighbor to both countries. As a result, Turkey is also increasing its military presence in these countries in order to defend Iraq and Syria against those who seek to target their territorial integrity.
Through operations Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch, Turkey protected locals and cleared northern Syria of terror elements.
Turkey has launched anti-terror operations in both Qandil and Sinjar regions in northern Iraq.
