American-led coalition forces have paused operations against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria as officials brace for a strike by Iran.
President Trump authorized a drone strike on Thursday that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, one of Iran’s highest-ranking and most powerful officials. Iran has vowed retaliation for the strike.
Forces led by the United States in the region are now focused on preparing for a potential attack and have temporarily stopped pursuing ISIS targets.
In a statement, the Combined Joint Task ForceOperation Inherent Resolve said, “Repeated rocket attacks over the last two months by elements of Kata’ib Hezbollah have caused the death of Iraqi Security Forces personnel and a U.S. civilian.”
It continued, “As a result we are now fully committed to protecting the Iraqi bases that host Coalition troops. This has limited our capacity to conduct training with partners and to support their operations against Daesh and we have therefore paused these activities, subject to continuous review.”
The coalition said it remains “ready” to resume operations against ISIS but did not provide a timeline for when the effort would restart.
