The US-led international coalition has ended its military mission in Iraq after more than a decade of operations against the Islamic State group, marking a significant change in the country’s security arrangements. Coalition forces were deployed to Iraq and Syria in 2014 after Islamic State captured large areas of both countries and carried out widespread killings and other atrocities. Although the group lost its territorial control in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019, coalition forces remained in the region to support operations against its remaining fighters and networks. Baghdad and Washington reached an agreement in 2024 on a phased withdrawal of coalition forces. Troops gradually left bases across Iraq, with the coalition’s remaining presence eventually limited to the autonomous Kurdistan region in the north. The final withdrawal was completed on Wednesday, formally ending the coalition’s military mission in Iraq. The Iraqi government has described the departure as an important step towards strengthening national sovereignty. It could also remove one of the main justifications cited by powerful Iran-backed armed groups for maintaining weapons outside government control. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi declared October 1, the day following the coalition’s departure, as Sovereignty Day. In a joint statement, the heads of Iraq’s executive, legislative and judicial branches described the occasion as “a national occasion that affirms the completion of Iraq’s path toward sovereignty and consolidates the presence of the state and its institutions.” They also called for greater government control 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 took office this year, has pledged to strengthen the state’s monopoly over weapons and encourage armed factions to surrender their arms to government authorities. His administration initially set September 30 as a deadline for the groups to disarm, but that deadline was later withdrawn as negotiations continued over how to regulate weapons held outside formal state structures. The issue remains contentious. Several powerful armed groups continue to resist calls to disarm, while senior political figures have sought to negotiate a compromise. Some factions have also argued that the withdrawal of foreign forces alone would not meet their demands, which include ending what they describe as US political and economic interference in Iraq. Kataeb Hezbollah, one of Iraq’s most powerful Iran-aligned armed groups, welcomed the coalition’s departure, describing it as the beginning of a broader effort to achieve full sovereignty. The group said the withdrawal of “the occupation forces… is a start towards achieving full sovereignty.” However, it also issued a warning to Zaidi’s government, saying: “A government that doesn’t work for the good of its people will be brought down by all possible means.” During the campaign against Islamic State, the US-led coalition and Iran-backed armed factions fought the jihadist group as a common enemy. After Islamic State lost its territorial control, however, the continued presence of coalition troops became a persistent source of tension between the armed factions, the Iraqi government and Washington. Iran-backed groups repeatedly called for US forces to leave Iraq and carried out drone and missile attacks against coalition positions. The United States responded on several occasions with strikes against the factions, including operations that killed their commanders. Attacks against US-led forces in Iraq’s Kurdistan region later intensified amid a broader regional conflict involving Iran and its allies. The coalition’s departure has also raised security concerns in the Kurdistan region. Residents and officials have questioned how the autonomous region will respond to potential future drone attacks now that coalition air-defence capabilities are no longer available. Despite the end of the coalition’s military mission, Iraqi authorities have stressed that the fight against Islamic State and other militant threats is not over. Responsibility for countering those threats is increasingly shifting to Iraqi security forces. The coalition had already ended its presence in Syria earlier this year. Its departure from Iraq therefore represents another major step in winding down the military campaign launched more than a decade ago in response to Islamic State’s rapid expansion across the region.
