Shafaq News / The US Central Command chief, General Kenneth McKenzie, said that PM Mustafa Al-Kadhimi is "walking in a minefield" after the operation he launched against Kata'ib Hezbollah, expressing his optimism that the latter would be able to impose his control on the armed factions in the country.

McKenzie said, in statements reported by the "Washington Post" newspaper, that Al-Kadhimi "is walking in a minefield, I think we should help him", adding after a meeting with the Iraq PM in Baghdad that the latter "is still trying to find the most appropriate way, meaning we will reach less than optimal solutions, which is not new to Iraq, but I consider myself an optimistic person when I look at the Prime Minister and what he is doing".

The recent incursions of the Iraqi government reflected a strong blow to these militias, which resulted in condemnation responses across the country, to embody the major challenges facing the prime minister in limiting Iran's influence in the country.

McKinsey's meeting with Al-Kadhimi coincided with talks between President Donald Trump's administration and Iraqi leaders, regarding the fate of US forces in Iraq.

The American general expressed his confidence that the Iraqi government would ask US forces to stay in the country despite previous demands to withdraw them.

However, while Washington and Baghdad confirmed last month that US forces would not seek to establish permanent bases in Iraq, high-level US military personnel stressed the need to maintain a form of continued American presence to repel the ongoing threat of ISIS.

Mike Mallory, who worked as a Pentagon official on Middle East issues in Trump administration, told the Washington Post that, "the continued US presence will reflect a significant benefit to the continued development of the Iraqi army so that it can defend itself from Iran's malign activities".