BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) – US President Donald Trump is expected to announce today further troop withdrawals from Afghanistan and Iraq, where several thousand US troops hunting down jihadist sleeper cells have faced increasing attacks blamed on pro-Iran factions.

The deadly bomb and rocket attacks have put additional pressure on Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi, who has pledged to rein in rogue groups pledged to fight the US military presence.

Kadhemi travelled to Washington last month for strategic talks, including on the future of the US-led coalition deployed in Iraq since 2014 to fight the Islamic State group.

At the time, Trump told Kadhemi US forces would leave Iraq but gave no timetable or cap for troop levels.

A senior US official told reporters the president would make an announcement Wednesday, but offered no details. There was no immediate response from the US-led coalition to a request for comment from AFP.

The US has already been steadily downsizing its troop levels in Iraq in recent months as Iraqis take over combat and training roles.

“These withdrawals are part of the agreed transition of the US-led coalition’s role in Iraq,” an Iraqi official told AFP.

US and other coalition troops stayed on after IS’s defeat in 2017 to support Iraqi forces with air strikes, drone surveillance and training to prevent a jihadist resurgence.