The news agency quotedWestern contractors at the base as saying thatUStroops began the drawdown over the past week, with groups of soldiers leaving the base on daily flights.
According to the report, the exact scale of the redeployment was unclear.
The BBC said more than5,000 UStroops were stationed in Iraq as of 2016, with nearly 4,000 others deployed later to purportedly assist local groups fighting Daesh. The remaining troops included special operations forces, logistics workers and soldierson temporary rotations, the broadcaster said.
Iraqi officialssaid their government reached an agreement with the US to reduce the number of troops in Iraq, Fox News reported.
The news came amid reports of a tiff between Baghdad and Washington over the United States' suspension of a maintenance program for Abrams tanks in Iraq.
It is also the latest sign of a growing US military buildup in Afghanistan, contrary toPresident Donald Trump's election campaign promises to end the intervention.
Trump introduced a new Afghanistan strategy in August, hinting at relaxing the rules of engagement, accelerating strikes and other military actions aimed at producing an honorable and enduring outcome.
Since hetook office, the number of troops has nearly doubled in Afghanistan from 8,500 in early 2017 to 14,000 today.
According to The Washington Post, the USArmy is floating plans to increase the total number of troops in Afghanistan by another 1,000.
The US invaded Afghanistan with the express aimof defeating Taliban but the militants areopenly active in 70 percent of the country, a studyreleased by the BBC said last Tuesday.
Worse still, Daesh has established a foothold in the war-torn country with its trademark brutal attacks.
On Tuesday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said the US wastransferring the Takfiri group from Iraq and Syria to Afghanistan in order to justify the continuation of its presence in the region and to create security for the Zionist regime.
