US ambassador to Iraq: Moscow attack reminds us ‘ISIS is a common terrorist enemy’

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — The Islamic State still poses a threat in Iraq and the US-led military coalition’s work with Iraq to fully defeat the group is not done, United States Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski tells Reuters in an interview.

Senior Iraqi politicians, including Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, have repeatedly said that the group no longer posed a threat in Iraq and the coalition was not needed, even as its affiliates continued to carry out attacks elsewhere.

“We both assess ISIS is still a threat here, much, much diminished, but nevertheless our work is essentially not done and we want to ensure that Iraqi forces can continue the enduring defeat of ISIS,” Romanowski says at the US embassy in Baghdad.

Her comments come after Islamic State’s Afghan branch, ISIS-K, claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack at a rock concert near Moscow, in which 137 people were killed.

“As this event reminds us, ISIS is a common terrorist enemy that must be defeated everywhere,” she says in an additional comment after the interview.

“That’s why the United States and Iraq share a commitment to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS, including by working together to shape the future of a strong bilateral US-Iraq security partnership.”