“France has taken the decision to repatriate until further notice its personnel deployed in operation Chammal in Iraq,” the Armed Forces Ministry said on Wednesday, adding that around 100 troops were in the country, and that air strikes against the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) would continue.

Abdul-Karim Khalaf, the spokesman for the caretaker Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi told the newspaper Al-Sabah on Wednesday that the French troops have already left Iraq.

Starting in 2014, France’s Operation Chammal spanned both Iraq and Syria and aimed to stem the expansion of the self-styled terrorist 'caliphate', flying airstrikes over both countries and sending a limited number of ground troops to Iraq.

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