Iraq’s government said Sunday that U.S. forces had completed a “full withdrawal” from military facilities inside the country’s federal territory, which includes the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region where U.S. forces are based.
Iraq’s defense ministry said the last batch of US advisers had departed from al-Asad air base in western Iraq’s Anbar province, which hosted US forces for more than two decades.
US troops have been drawing down for several years after the Iraqi government called for it to do so in 2023
The US-led coalition to fight the Islamic State group has also withdrawn from the Joint Operations Command headquarters, leaving the facilities under the full control of Iraqi security forces, the ministry statement added.
US forces are still stationed at Harir Air Base in Erbil province in the Kurdistan region. The central government of Iraq does not fully control the Kurdish region of northern Iraq as it is an autonomous federal entity with its own government, parliament and security forces recognized by the Iraqi constitution.
US military presence in Iraq has fluctuated greatly since the 2003 invasion. At its height, the US had 170,000 troops in Iraq. In 2011, former President Barack Obama withdrew US troops from the country. About 5,000 troops were deployed to Iraq in 2014 at the request of the Iraqi government seeking US support in the fight against ISIS.
Since December 2021, when the U.S. military announced the end of its combat role in the country, the U.S. has maintained approximately 2,500 troops in Iraq in an advise-and-assist capacity.
The Iraqi ministry released a video on Saturday showing senior Iraqi military commanders walking empty halls and corridors inside al-Assad Air Base.
The U.S. Defense Department’s Central Command told CNN on Sunday, “The Iraqi Ministry of Defense’s previous statement that the handover was factual,” without providing further details.
The return comes amid heightened regional tensions between the US and Iran as US President Donald Trump considers whether to attack Iran amid deadly street protests against the country’s authoritarian regime.
US forces stationed at the al-Assad base have been attacked several times by Iran and Iran-backed groups over the years.
In January 2020, Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on US forces in al-Assad in retaliation for a drone strike on Baghdad airport that killed Iran’s most powerful military commander, Qasem Soleimani. The heavy bombardment lasted for about two hours, targeting only American areas of the common base.
Following the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel, Iran-linked militia groups launched a series of missile attacks on al-Assad. In August 2024, five US service members and two US contractors were injured in the attack.
Iraqi officials said Sunday that all branches of its armed forces are capable enough to secure the country and that future cooperation with the U.S. will focus on training, equipment acquisition, joint exercises and operational coordination under a bilateral agreement.
While Iraq considers the coalition mission on its territory complete, officials say coalition operations against ISIS and other terrorist groups in Syria continue. Baghdad expects logistical support in transit through the coalition air base in Erbil and would not rule out joint US-Iraqi counter-ISIS operations from al-Assad if deemed necessary.
The US withdrawal could strengthen the government’s position in talks on the disarmament of non-state armed groups, as some Iran-backed militias have cited the US presence as a reason to maintain their weapons.
Militias such as Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba, Iraq’s most powerful armed groups and designated “terrorist organizations” by the US, reject disarmament. They have said they will surrender their weapons only after gaining full sovereignty, including the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq.
There was no immediate comment from the militias about the announcement. Although many have been formally integrated into popular mobilization forces, they are influential actors in Iraq’s security, political, and economic spheres.
CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn contributed reporting.
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