The last U.S. troops left Erbil Air Base on Wednesday, Sept. 30, ending the American military presence in Iraq and the 12-year Operation Inherent Resolve mission there. The departure followed a 2024 agreement between Washington and Baghdad. U.S. counterterrorism operations in Syria continue, and the task force headquarters has moved to Jordan.
From Coalition Mission to Iraqi Control
U.S. Central Command said the final troops and equipment departed Erbil Air Base in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The base served as the task force’s main operational hub and hosted most of roughly 1,500 American and coalition personnel supporting counter-ISIS operations. The United States had maintained about 2,500 troops in Iraq in recent years; most left last year, while hundreds stayed in the northern Kurdish region. NPR reported that about 1,500 personnel remained in the Kurdistan Region before the final departure.
The withdrawal followed a yearlong wind-down. U.S. and coalition forces began leaving federal Iraq last October, and the departure from Erbil completed the transition to a bilateral defense relationship. Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve has relocated its headquarters to Jordan. U.S. forces still conduct counterterrorism operations in Syria alongside coalition partners and the Syrian government.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell called the departure an “orderly departure” and the formal conclusion of Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq. “This milestone reflects the success of a 12-year campaign that defeated ISIS as an organized military threat in Iraq and across the region,” he said. Parnell said the mission was shifting “from a wartime coalition mission to an Iraqi-led security effort supported by a more normal bilateral security relationship.” He said the United States would continue targeted training and intelligence support for Iraqi forces.
Parnell said responsibility for remaining security challenges, including ISIS remnants and Iran-aligned militias, now rests with the Iraqi government. He described the U.S. position as supporting “a strong sovereign Iraq that secures its borders, protects its people, and serves as the foundation for deeper commercial, diplomatic, and security cooperation between our two countries.”
Baghdad Declares ‘Sovereignty Day’
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi presided over a handover ceremony in Baghdad at the former joint military command center across from the American Embassy. NPR reported that officials closed the ceremony to the press and would later broadcast it on state television. Baghdad declared a two-day holiday and called Wednesday “sovereignty day.”
Al-Zaidi described 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.” He said Iraqi security forces would keep fighting ISIS and that the government would ensure non-state groups no longer held weapons.
Sabah al-Numan, spokesman for the chief of the Iraqi armed forces, told NPR: “We are moving from working under the umbrella of the coalition to an equal relationship with them.” He added: “But at the end they have to go.” Al-Numan said Iraq was exploring bilateral military agreements with the United States.
The government’s sovereignty claim faces a security test. The Kurdistan Regional Government’s Peshmerga Ministry said the region had faced more than 1,000 drone and ballistic-missile attacks during the recent U.S.-Iran conflict. It said the U.S. departure “without the provision of a defense system, is a matter of concern.” Al-Numan said Iraq wouldn't leave the Kurdistan region undefended and was discussing air-defense purchases from South Korea, Turkey and the United States.
Militias Reject Disarmament
The Iraqi government initially linked the Sept. 30 withdrawal deadline to disarming non-state armed groups. A handful of less influential militias agreed to hand over weapons, but powerful groups close to Iran rejected disarmament or set conditions the government was unlikely to meet. Al-Zaidi told The New York Times earlier in September that the deadline had been pushed to June 2027. NPR reported that he asked to extend the deadline after agreeing at a July White House meeting with Trump to disarm the militias by Sept. 30.
Abu Mujahid al-Assaf, a security official with Kataib Hezbollah, called the departure “the beginning of full sovereignty.” He warned that “any government that does not work for the benefit of the people will be overthrown by all means.” The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said talks with the government on regulating weapons had produced no agreement and that it was “not bound by any timeline or agreement” announced by the government or a political entity.
Iraqi officials and analysts have also raised questions about the country’s readiness to manage security without the coalition. Retired Iraqi Army Gen. Mohammed al-Jubouri told Reuters: “The most important question now is whether Iraq’s security institutions have prepared a viable Plan B for the post-coalition phase.” Abdulrahman al-Zobaie, a Sunni tribal leader in Fallujah, said: “We believe Iraq is still not fully ready to take over the security file at this time.”
NPR reported that U.S. support in recent years included intelligence, particularly signals intelligence using technology Iraq does not possess, as well as surveillance. ISIS remains active in Iraq and Syria as scattered sleeper cells. Iraqi special forces said they killed two suicide bombers near Kirkuk on the Sunday before the report; they said a civilian was also killed. Al-Numan said Iraq had established two joint Iraqi-Kurdish brigades for counter-ISIS operations, calling them “a symbol that all Iraqis can work together in one unit and with one mission.”