The US is on course to withdraw its remaining troops from Iraq by September 30, according to US and Iraqi officials, ending a military presence that began with the 2003 invasion.Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi reaffirmed the September 30 date during a meeting with US Central Command chief admiral Brad Cooper on Wednesday, calling it the “fixed and final date” for ending the Global Coalition’s military mission against ISIS in Iraq. A US official also confirmed the planned withdrawal but did not disclose how many troops remain or where they would be redeployed.The US had already withdrawn troops from most Iraqi bases last year, while maintaining a presence in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region. Two Kurdish officials said the drawdown of US personnel and military equipment from Erbil had begun about three weeks ago. The bases in the region have faced repeated attacks since the US and Israel launched their war against Iran on February 28.Washington and Baghdad agreed in 2024 to wind down the US-led mission against ISIS. The coalition ended its combat operations in 2021 after ISIS lost the territory it had controlled, though around 2,500 US troops remained for training and counterterrorism support.The US military presence has gone through several phases in Iraq. More than 170,000 American troops were deployed at the height of counterinsurgency operations in 2007, before the last combat troops left in 2011. US forces returned in 2014 after ISIS seized large parts of Iraq and Syria, at the invitation of the Iraqi government.The planned US exit also comes alongside an Iraqi push to disarm armed groups. Al-Zaidi has set September 30 as the deadline for non-state militias to surrender their weapons, arguing that the groups would have no justification to remain armed once foreign forces leave.However, the AP report said the deadline is unlikely to be met. Some of Iraq’s most powerful Iran-backed militias have rejected the idea of giving up their weapons, while some armed groups have long cited the presence of US troops as a reason for maintaining their arsenals.
