TIRANA, Feb. 28 – Albania plans to deploy about 30 troops to Iraq later this year in the framework U.S.-led initiative to help train local forces in the battle against ISIS.
Albanian Minister of Defense Mimi Kodheli said in a hearing at the parliamentary commission of security that the country has decided to accept the U.S. request and is committed to be part of the global coalition in the fight against ISIS.
She announced that the ministry will draft a detailed plan for the Albanian mission and the exact number of military men that will be deployed to Iraqi bases and how they will be engaged in the fight.
“This draft law will pave the way to the presence of Albanian soldiers in the coalition against ISIS,” Kodheli said.
The draft law will be submitted to parliament in two weeks, Kodheli said, adding that the deployment of the country’s 30 troops needs a special law approved by parliament, because the mission is not done in the framework of NATO.
According to Minister Kodheli, as soon as the Government of Iraq approves the initiative, the draft law will be sent to the Council of Ministers.
“This is a voluntary mission. Albania has already helped in many ways in the fight against ISIS but we have not contributed on a military base,” Kodheli told members of the parliamentary commission.
Albania, a NATO member since 2009, enjoys a strategic partnership with the United States.
The U.S.-led Global Coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS, was formed in September 2014. Albania joined along with 68 other world countries.
The coalition plans to initiate several options, including a major overhaul, for accelerating the war against Islamic State and crush the global terror group which was founded in the early years of the Iraq war.
Since 2014, Albania has provided support and assistance mainly in ammunition and weapons to the Iraqi government.
While experts have expressed fears of the radicalization of Balkans, Albania which joined NATO in 2009, has intensified efforts to fight radical Islamism in the country.
In 2015, officials approved the Strategy for Countering Violent Extremism. In addition, the country is making preparations to set up a regional center for the fight against radicalism, with the support of European Union and United States of America.
This will be Albania’s second mission to Iraq, nine years after the war.
In April 2003, Albania sent to Iraq about 1,377 armed forces and military personnel in total as part of the Operation Iraqi Freedom. The troops withdrew in 2008 along with other Western forces.
