U.S. completes Iraq troop withdrawal as anti-ISIS coalition mission ends

The U.S. military said on Sept. 30 that it had completed the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, ending a 12-year anti-Islamic State coalition mission and handing primary security responsibility back to Baghdad. Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell said remaining U.S. and international coalition forces made an “orderly departure from Erbil Air Base in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, taking equipment with them. He framed the exit as the success of a campaign that defeated ISIS as an organised military threat and as a shift from a wartime coalition footprint to an Iraqi-led effort backed by a more normal bilateral security relationship. The Pentagon said it will continue targeted training and intelligence support, while expecting Iraqi Security Forces including the Peshmerga — to lead the fight against ISIS remnants.President Donald Trump called the Sept. 30 deadline withdrawal orderly” and, in a Truth Social post, a victory for the United States, Iraq and against ISIS, while describing the broader U.S. involvement in Iraq as “a very expensive excursion into Hell.” Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi cast the departure as the start of a sovereignty-focused phase; Kurdish officials have voiced concern about air defence gaps, and Iran-aligned militias have celebrated the exit even as Baghdads militia-disarmament timeline has slipped toward June 2027.The pullout closes the last residual coalition presence after earlier base consolidations, but it lands amid a still-dangerous neighbourhood — including the wider U.S.–Iran conflict — and leaves unanswered how quickly Iraqi and Kurdish forces can suppress sleeper cells without a U.S. combat footprint on Iraqi soil. Sources: Al Jazeera; Business Standard / AP.