ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US-led coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) will end its presence in the Iraqi capital and at the Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq by the end of September 2025, a senior advisor to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani confirmed on Sunday. The full conclusion of the coalition’s mission is scheduled for September 2026.
Hussein Allawi, advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani told the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA) that coalition forces will withdraw from “their headquarters in the capital Baghdad and the Ain al-Asad base in [western Iraq’s Anbar province]” by September.
He added that the move underlines Baghdad’s commitment to “building the [capabilities of the] armed forces and ending the international coalition's mission.”
The US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS was formed in 2014 under President Barack Obama to degrade and ultimately defeat the group. Its military operations in Iraq began in October 2014 with airstrikes and later expanded to include advising and training Iraqi security forces.
The coalition consists of over 89 countries and international organizations, including key members such as the US, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, and several Middle Eastern nations. Member states contribute through military personnel, equipment, training, and financial support. As of mid-2025, the US maintains around 2,500 troops in Iraq.
However, the coalition forces presence in Iraq became a contentious issue after the US strike that killed Iran’s Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy chief of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), near Baghdad International Airport in January 2020. Days later, 168 members of Iraq’s 329-member parliament voted to expel foreign forces from the country.
Ain al-Asad airbase, one of the largest military installations housing US troops, was then-targeted by Iranian missiles in what Tehran said was its response for the killings.
For his part, Allawi said the coalition’s withdrawal follows a December 2021 agreement between Baghdad and Washington to transition the coalition’s role from combat to training and assisting Iraqi forces.
He emphasized that the mission will conclude within the agreed timeframe - with the first phase ending in 2025 and the final phase in 2026 - paving the way for a “new phase of security cooperation” between Iraq and coalition member-states, in which Iraq aims to develop “sustainable” and “stable bilateral defense relations," grounded not only in military coordination but also in “political, economic, and cultural ties.”
Earlier this year, Major General Saad Maan, head of Iraq’s Security Media Cell, confirmed that the coalition’s mission will end in two phases with no extension.
“The missions of the global coalition forces in Iraq will end in two phases: the first will be this year, and the second in 2026. There will be no extension beyond that,” Maan said.
He attributed the decision to Iraq’s improved security environment compared to 2014, when ISIS controlled vast territories in the country’s north and west. “Our security forces are now stronger and more capable, and we can rely on ourselves to safeguard the country's security,” he added.
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