US Completes Withdrawal of All Troops From Iraq

The United States has completed the withdrawal of all its troops from Iraq, ending a 12-year mission to fight the Islamic State group.

The final U.S. troops left an air base in Irbil, in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, under an agreement reached between Washington and Baghdad two years ago.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the troops and equipment completed an “orderly departure” from the base.

He said the withdrawal marked the end of a campaign that defeated the Islamic State as an organised military threat in Iraq and across the region, and a shift to an Iraqi-led security effort supported by a bilateral security relationship.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi described the withdrawal as the beginning of a new phase focused on Iraq’s sovereignty, stronger institutions and the readiness of its security forces.

He also said Iraqi forces would continue the fight against Islamic State militants and that the government would work to ensure non-state groups no longer hold weapons.

The withdrawal comes as the United States and Iran remain engaged in an ongoing conflict that has spilled into Iraq, with Iran-backed militias firing at U.S. forces and the U.S. carrying out strikes against militia strongholds.

The departure has been welcomed by the Iraqi government and Iran-backed groups, while some Iraqis, particularly in the Kurdish region, have expressed concerns about the security implications.

The withdrawal also raises questions about the future of Iraqi militias, which the Baghdad government has sought to disarm.

U.S. troops invaded Iraq in 2003 to overthrow Saddam Hussein and withdrew in 2011. They returned three years later after Iraqi authorities invited a U.S.-led mission to help fight the Islamic State, which had seized large parts of the country.

With the group reduced to scattered sleeper cells, Washington and Baghdad agreed in 2024 to wind down the mission.