The Iraqi government on Sunday said that US forces have completed a “full withdrawal” from military facilities in the country’s federal territory, which excludes the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region where US troops remain.
Iraq’s defense ministry said the final contingent of US advisers had left Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq’s western Anbar province, which has hosted US troops for more than two decades.
The US military has been drawing down for several years after the Iraqi government asked to do so in 2023
The US-led coalition to fight the Islamic State group also withdrew from the headquarters of the Joint Operations Command, leaving the installations under the full control of Iraqi security forces, the ministry statement added.
US forces remain at Harir Air Base in Erbil province, which is in the Kurdistan Region. The central government of Iraq does not fully control the Kurdish region in northern Iraq as it is an autonomous federal entity with its own government, parliament and security forces, recognized by the Iraqi constitution.
The US military presence in Iraq has varied greatly since the 2003 invasion. At its height, the United States had 170,000 troops in Iraq. In 2011, former President Barack Obama withdrew American forces from the country. About 5,000 troops were deployed to Iraq in 2014 at the request of the Iraqi government, which sought US help in the fight against ISIS.
As of December 2021, when the US military announced the end of its combat role in the country, the US had approximately 2,500 troops in Iraq in an advisory and assistance capacity.
The Iraqi ministry released a video on Saturday showing senior Iraqi military commanders walking through empty halls and corridors inside Al-Asad Air Base.
The US Defense Department’s Central Command told CNN on Sunday that “the previous statement by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense indicating the transfer was factual,” without providing further details.
The withdrawal comes amid regional tensions between the United States and Iran, as US President Donald Trump considers whether to strike Iran amid deadly street protests against the country’s authoritarian regime.
US forces stationed at the Al-Asad base have been attacked dozens of times over the years by Iran and Iran-backed groups.
In January 2020, Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on US forces in Al-Asad in retaliation for a drone attack on a Baghdad airport that killed Iran’s most powerful military commander, Qasem Soleimani. The heavy bombardment lasted for about two hours, and only targeted the US areas of the shared base.
Following the 7 October 2023 terror attacks in Israel, militia groups aligned with Iran launched a series of missile attacks on Al-Asad. In August 2024, five US service members and two US contractors were injured in an attack.
Iraqi officials on Sunday said that its armed forces in all branches have sufficient capacity to secure the country and future cooperation with the United States will center on training, equipment acquisition, joint exercises, and operational coordination under bilateral agreements.
While Iraq considers the coalition mission concluded on its territory, officials noted that coalition operations against ISIS and other terror groups continue in Syria. Baghdad expects logistical support to flow through the coalition air base in Erbil and has not ruled out joint operations against ISIS between the United States and Iraq initiated by Al-Asad if deemed necessary.
The US withdrawal could strengthen the government’s position in negotiations on the disarmament of non-state armed groups, as some Iranian-backed militias have cited the US presence to justify keeping their weapons.
Militias such as Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba, among Iraq’s most powerful armed groups and designated by the United States as “terrorist entities,” have refused disarmament. They said they would give up their weapons only once Iraq regains full sovereignty, including the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq.
There was no immediate comment from the militias on the announcement. Although many have formally integrated into the Popular Mobilization Forces, they remain influential actors in Iraq’s security, political and economic spheres.
CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn contributed reporting.
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