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How was the withdrawal from Iraq completed?

The withdrawal from Iraq was completed with the departure of the last British and American troops stationed in Erbil in the north. The evacuation of about 100 British personnel was carried out in recent weeks in coordination with US forces, and American troops also left the country on Wednesday.

The pullout followed an agreement signed two years ago between the US and the Iraqi government, which called for foreign troops to leave the country by the end of this month. With that, the international coalition’s mission in the fight against ISIS, known as Operation Inherent Resolve, also came to an end.

How did Baghdad assess the move?

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi described the end of the coalition mission as the start of a new phase in which the country would fully assume responsibility for its own security and stability. The Iraqi government is preparing to declare four separate “Sovereignty Day” holidays to mark the withdrawal.

The British Defense Ministry said Iraqi security forces and the Peshmerga in the Kurdistan Region had permanently ended ISIS’s territorial control and were now capable of taking on primary security responsibilities.

Has the risk on the ground fully disappeared?

Although the Iraqi government declared ISIS militarily defeated in 2017, coalition forces remained in the country to prevent the group from regrouping. According to the latest United Nations assessment, the group still has several hundred fighters in Iraq and can only carry out limited, low-complexity attacks.

ISIS is not Baghdad’s only security concern. The presence of Iran-backed militia groups is also seen as a major challenge for the government; Zaidi had pledged to disarm these groups and bring all weapons under state control. However, resistance from some powerful factions has fueled expectations that their influence could grow once the US presence ends.

What did the mission achieve, and what happens next?

The base in Erbil has been targeted repeatedly in recent months. When BBC visited the site in April, drones were seen around the base, and during the most intense phase of US strikes on Iran, as many as 28 drones and missiles a day were reported to have been directed at the facility; RAF personnel in the area were said to have shot down more than 100 drones in the first six weeks of the war.

  • Britain said it had provided training and support to more than 111,000 members of Iraq’s security forces.
  • That total included more than 21,000 Peshmerga fighters in the Kurdistan Region.
  • The Royal Air Force was reported to have flown thousands of sorties and hit more than 2,300 ISIS targets.

The Pentagon said targeted training and intelligence support for Iraqi partners will continue. US Central Command said the joint task force will continue its activities from this point onward based in Jordan, and that US forces will also keep up their anti-ISIS operations in Syria.

The move was recorded as the third withdrawal of US and British forces from Iraq. The two countries left in 2011, but returned to Iraq in 2014 after ISIS’s advance.

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