Italy will cut its 1,500 military contingent in Iraq this year, drawing down at least 700 troops, it was announced at a summit in Rome on Tuesday.
Italian defence minister Roberta Pinotti was among 15 defence ministers from the global coalition fighting the Islamic State jihadist group who attended the summit, as well as US defence secretary James Mattis.
The meeting focused on foreign fighters, preventing a resurgence of IS and reconstructing areas of Iraq and Syria formerly under the terror group's control.
IS has not yet been defeated and could return, ministers at the summit warned.
It will cost Iraq over 88 billion dollars to rebuild the country, officials told a donor conference in Kuwait this week.
