Iraq’s government announced on Sunday that U.S. forces have completed a “complete withdrawal” from military installations in the country’s federal territory, excluding the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, where U.S. forces remain.
Iraq’s Ministry of Defense announced that the last contingent of American advisers departed from al-Asad Air Base in Iraq’s western Anbar province, which has hosted American troops for more than 20 years.
The U.S. military has been making cuts for several years, after the Iraqi government requested cuts in 2023.
The ministry statement added that the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group also withdrew from the Joint Operations Command and the facility was placed under full control of Iraqi security forces.
US troops are still stationed at Khalil Air Base in Erbil Governorate, Kurdistan Region. Iraq’s central government does not have complete control over the Kurdish areas of northern Iraq, as it is an autonomous federal entity with its own government, parliament, and security forces, as recognized by Iraq’s constitution.
The U.S. military presence in Iraq has fluctuated significantly since the 2003 invasion. At its peak, the United States had 170,000 troops in Iraq. In 2011, former President Barack Obama withdrew U.S. troops from the country. In 2014, at the request of the Iraqi government, approximately 5,000 troops were sent to Iraq to seek U.S. assistance in the fight against ISIS.
The United States has had approximately 2,500 troops in Iraq in an advisory and support capacity since December 2021, when the U.S. military announced the end of its combat role in the country.
The Iraqi Ministry on Saturday released a video showing senior Iraqi military commanders walking through empty halls and hallways at al-Asad Air Base.
The Pentagon’s Central Command told CNN on Sunday that “earlier statements from the Iraqi Ministry of Defense indicating the extradition were true,” without providing further details.
The withdrawal comes amid regional tensions between the United States and Iran, with US President Donald Trump weighing whether to attack Iran amid deadly street protests against the country’s authoritarian regime.
U.S. forces stationed at al-Asad base have been attacked dozens of times over the years by Iran and Iranian-backed groups.
In January 2020, Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on U.S. 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 shelling lasted about two hours and targeted only the U.S. area of the shared base.
Following the terrorist attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, Iranian-aligned militias launched a series of missile attacks on al-Assad. In August 2024, an attack injured five U.S. military personnel and two U.S. contractors.
Iraqi officials said Sunday that all Iraqi forces are capable enough to ensure the country’s security, and that future cooperation with the United States will focus on training, equipment acquisition, joint exercises and operational coordination under bilateral agreements.
Although Iraq considers the coalition mission to have ended within its territory, officials noted that coalition operations against ISIS and other terrorist groups continue in Syria. Baghdad expects logistics support to route through the coalition air base in Erbil, and did not rule out joint U.S.-Iraqi operations against ISIS starting from al-Assad if deemed necessary.
Some Iranian-backed militias have cited the U.S. presence to justify holding weapons, and a U.S. withdrawal could strengthen the government’s position in negotiations to disarm non-state armed groups.
Militia groups such as Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba, one of Iraq’s most powerful armed groups and designated as a “terrorist organization” by the United States, have refused to disarm. They said they would only hand over the weapons if Iraq gained full sovereignty, including the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq.
There was no immediate comment from the militia on the announcement. Although many have been formally integrated into the Popular Mobilization Forces, they remain influential in Iraq’s security, political, and economic spheres.
