US forces completed their withdrawal from Iraq on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, formally ending a more than two-decade military presence as the US forces exit Iraq milestone closes Operation Inherent Resolve and shifts security responsibility fully to Baghdad.
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The final troops left mainly from an airbase in Erbil in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region. The pullout was agreed in 2024 under President Joe Biden and carried out by President Donald Trump’s administration even as Washington remains engaged in a wider confrontation with Iran.
US forces exit Iraq after 23 years of war
According to Reuters, the Pentagon said the United States and coalition partners concluded the mission and will keep providing targeted training and intelligence to Iraqi partners. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi said the end of the coalition mission does not end the fight against terrorism, but moves Iraq into a phase of full responsibility for its own security.
More than 4,500 US troops died in America’s largest war of this century. The Iraq Body Count project has tallied more than 200,000 Iraqi civilian deaths since the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Iran-backed militias and Islamic State risks
Tehran and allied armed groups cast the departure as a victory for the so-called “axis of resistance.” Analysts warn Iranian-backed Shiite militias may feel freer to shape Iraqi institutions without a Western troop presence nearby, a dynamic long tracked in coverage of the IRGC’s regional proxy network.
Iraqi officials also worry Islamic State sleeper cells could exploit any security gap. US forces had supplied aerial surveillance and intelligence after the group’s territorial caliphate collapsed in 2017—support that proved critical after the last US withdrawal in 2011 paved the way for Mosul’s fall in 2014.
Baghdad’s balancing act with Washington and Tehran
Al Jazeera reported that Iraq planned “Sovereignty Days” to mark the exit, while Prime Minister al-Zaidi has pledged to disarm militias by June 2027. Kurdish officials have been among the sharpest critics of the withdrawal, citing recent Iranian and militia strikes on the Kurdistan Region that US air defenses helped blunt.
Of 18 US service members listed as killed since Trump launched “Operation Epic Fury” alongside Israel in February, seven died in Iraq, underscoring how the country remained a front in the broader Iran confrontation even as the Inherent Resolve mission wound down.
What comes next for Iraqi security
Retired Iraqi Army Gen. Mohammed al-Jubouri told Reuters the central question is whether Iraqi forces have a viable Plan B without coalition ISR and air defenses—especially if Islamic State obtains armed drones. That concern echoes earlier reporting on militia FPV drone attacks on US aircraft in Iraq. For now, Baghdad must prove it can contain both Iranian-aligned armed groups and a resilient jihadist underground without American troops on the ground.
Background: U.S. Central Command said the Combined Joint Task Force–Operation Inherent Resolve headquarters moved to Jordan. U.S. forces remain in Syria for counter-ISIS operations, and Washington said it would continue targeted training and intelligence support for Iraqi forces.
Sources
- U.S. Central Command: U.S. forces end Operation Inherent Resolve mission in Iraq
- Reuters: Joy mixed with fear as US forces quit Iraq
- Al Jazeera: Iraq begins security balancing act as US troops withdraw
- NPR: U.S. withdraws last troops from Iraq
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