US-led coalition concludes Iraq military mission

After more than ten years of operations targeting the Islamic State group, the US-led international coalition has concluded its military mission in Iraq, a development that represents a significant change to the country’s security landscape. Coalition troops first arrived in Iraq and Syria in 2014, after Islamic State captured vast territory in both nations and committed mass killings and other abuses. The extremist group was stripped of its territory in Iraq by 2017 and in Syria by 2019, yet coalition personnel stayed in the region to assist efforts against remaining fighters. In 2024, Baghdad and Washington reached an agreement on a step-by-step plan to end the coalition’s role. Forces pulled out of bases throughout Iraq in stages, and their footprint was eventually limited to the northern autonomous Kurdistan region. On Wednesday, the last pullout was finished, formally closing the coalition’s military mission in Iraq. The Iraqi government has framed the withdrawal as a significant advance for national sovereignty and as a way to eliminate one justification used by strong Iran-backed armed factions for keeping weapons outside government control. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi named October 1, the day following the coalition’s exit, Sovereignty Day. In a joint statement, the leaders of Iraq’s executive, legislative and judicial branches called it “a national occasion that affirms the completion of Iraq’s path toward sovereignty and consolidates the presence of the state and its institutions”. They further urged stronger state authority over weapons held by armed groups. “The presence of weapons outside state authority must be addressed… in line with timelines set by the government, in a manner that strengthens state sovereignty,” they said. Zaidi, who assumed office this year, has committed to strengthening the state’s exclusive control over weapons and to pressing armed factions to hand their arms over to government authorities. His administration initially set September 30 as the deadline for the factions to disarm, but later withdrew that date as talks continued about how to regulate weapons outside formal state institutions. The matter remains disputed. Several influential armed groups are resisting disarmament calls, and senior political figures are trying to broker a compromise. Some factions have argued that the removal of foreign troops by itself would not meet their demands, which also include ending what they call American political and economic interference in Iraq. Kataeb Hezbollah, a powerful Iran-aligned armed group, welcomed the coalition’s exit and described it as the start of a wider push for full sovereignty. The group said the withdrawal of “the occupation forces… is a start towards achieving full sovereignty”. At the same time, it issued a warning to Zaidi’s government. “A government that doesn’t work for the good of its people will be brought down by all possible means,” the group said. During the battle against Islamic State, the US-led coalition and Iran-backed armed factions treated the jihadist group as a shared enemy. After Islamic State’s territorial defeat, however, the coalition’s continued presence became a recurring point of friction among the armed factions, the Iraqi government and Washington. Iran-backed groups repeatedly called for US forces to leave and launched drone and missile strikes on coalition positions. The United States retaliated at times with strikes on the factions, including operations that killed commanders. Assaults on US-led forces in Iraq’s Kurdistan region later increased as broader regional conflict involving Iran and its allies escalated. The coalition’s exit has also generated security worries in the Kurdistan region, where residents and officials have asked how the autonomous area will protect itself from future drone attacks now that coalition air-defence support is gone. Even with the coalition mission over, Iraqi authorities have emphasized that the country’s campaign against Islamic State and other militant dangers is not finished, with more responsibility falling to Iraqi security forces. The coalition had already concluded its presence in Syria earlier this year, so its departure from Iraq marks another major phase in the drawdown of the military effort launched against Islamic State more than a decade ago.