The Pentagon confirmed that all US forces and equipment had left Erbil Air Base in northern Iraq, culminating a yearlong wind-down of Operation Inherent Resolve. This follows a 2024 agreement between the United States and the Iraqi government to remove foreign troops by September 30, 2026.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell described the departure as an "orderly departure" and said the milestone reflects "the success of a 12-year campaign that defeated ISIS as an organized military threat in Iraq and across the region." He added that the mission transitions to an Iraqi-led security effort supported by a "more normal bilateral security relationship."
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi presided over a handover ceremony, calling the withdrawal the beginning of "a new phase, one defined by Iraq's sovereignty, the strength of its institutions, the readiness of its forces, the unity of its decision-making, and balanced partnerships with its friends." In a separate statement, he said the end of the coalition's mission marks "Iraq's transition to a phase in which it assumes full responsibility for its security and stability." The Iraqi government has declared four "Sovereignty Days" as national holidays to mark the withdrawal.
The departure has drawn mixed reactions. Officials in Iraq's Kurdish region expressed anxiety about the removal of US air defense systems. The Peshmerga Ministry reported that the region faced more than 1,000 drone and ballistic-missile attacks during the recent US-Iran conflict. "The departure of the United States from the Kurdistan Region under these complex regional circumstances, without the provision of a defense system, is a matter of concern," the ministry said in a statement.
Iran-aligned militias, long opponents of the US presence, celebrated the withdrawal. Abu Mujahid al-Assaf, a security official with the Kataib Hezbollah militia, described it as "the expulsion of the occupation forces, defeated, from the land of Iraq" and warned Prime Minister al-Zaidi not to carry out American plans.
Some Iraqi security experts have cautioned that the withdrawal could give the Islamic State and other militant groups an opportunity to recover. The US military will continue to target threats from Jordan, where the Pentagon says it can conduct operations against groups that endanger US personnel and interests. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the anti-IS coalition mission will proceed from there.
The United Kingdom also withdrew its remaining personnel, about 100 troops from Irbil, in coordination with the US departure.
Background: The US troop presence in Iraq dates to the 2003 invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein and triggered years of conflict. As many as 210,000 Iraqi civilians and 4,599 US service members were killed between 2003 and 2023, according to Brown University's Costs of War Project. The financial cost to US taxpayers is estimated at more than $2.8 trillion. The US initially ended combat operations in 2011, but the Islamic State's rise in 2014 brought American forces back under a new international coalition.