U.S. Completes Troop Withdrawal from Iraq After Two Decades
The withdrawal ends a 12-year anti-ISIS mission and leaves Iraqi forces to lead security with continued U.S. training and intelligence support, Pentagon officials said.
- On Wednesday, the United States completed its military withdrawal from Iraq, ending a 12-year mission against the Islamic State as Coalition forces finalized their departure from Erbil Air Base in the Kurdistan Region.
- Washington and Baghdad agreed in 2024 to wind down the mission, with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali describing the withdrawal as marking a new phase defined by Iraq's sovereignty and Iraqi-led security responsibility.
- While Iran-backed groups celebrated the expulsion of "occupation forces," officials in the Kurdistan Region expressed anxiety about the removal of United States air defense systems after the region faced more than 1,000 drone and ballistic-missile attacks.
- Abu Mujahid, a security official with the powerful Kataib Hezbollah militia, warned the government not to pursue "American plans," threatening that "any government that does not work for the benefit of the people will be overthrown by all means."
- Prime Minister Ali recently pushed the deadline for militia disarmament to June 2027, while the United States will maintain targeted training and intelligence support to prevent the Islamic State from reestablishing a presence in Iraq.
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867 Articles
Washington closes its mission in Iraq 23 years after Saddam Hussein's overthrow. Meanwhile, Daesh reactivates its cells in the north of the country and pro-Iranian militias celebrate the exit as a victory of the "resistance." More information: Israel secretly built two military bases in the Iraqi desert and deployed special forces there to attack Iran.
America leaves Iraq, again
This story appeared in Today, Explained, a daily newsletter that helps you understand the most compelling news and stories of the day. Subscribe here. The last US troops in Iraq formally withdrew today, 23 years after the United States first invaded Iraq and 12 years after it returned to take on the Islamic State. It’s a historic occasion, […]
The United States has completed its mission in Iraq and withdrawn troops as part of Operation Resolute. This was announced by President Donald Trump. September 30, 2026
Sydney Morning Herald
US forces have finally quit Iraq. What happens now?
The American exit leaves a battered but increasingly influential Iran at the centre of the region’s future.
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