US-led coalition ‘completes’ mission in Iraq, shifts forces to Kurdistan: Official

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US-led Global Coalition to Defeat the Islamic State (ISIS) has effectively concluded its mission in federal Iraq, with only “four to five personnel” remaining in Baghdad to handle logistical and diplomatic tasks, a high-ranking Iraqi security official told Rudaw on Wednesday, confirming that all other coalition forces are now based in the Kurdistan Region.

Lieutenant General Qais al-Muhammadawi, Deputy Commander of Iraq’s Joint Operations Command (JOC), said, “The global coalition has completed its mission in federal areas," adding that “only four to five personnel remain to handle logistical and diplomatic affairs.”

“All global coalition forces are now in the Kurdistan Region,” Muhammadawi confirmed.

In late August, two senior Iraqi security sources told Rudaw that US troops would begin withdrawing from Baghdad to Erbil as the first phase of Washington’s drawdown from federal areas. The shift included planned departures from Baghdad’s international airport and heavily-fortified Green Zone, as well as the JOC headquarters in the Iraqi capital.

Around the same time, Abdullah al-Jughaifi, advisor to the security and defense committee of Anbar’s provincial council, told Rudaw that the withdrawal would “also include Ain al-Assad airbase” in the western Iraqi province, which hosts major US-led training operations against ISIS.

Information obtained by Rudaw from the JOC on Wednesday showed that nearly 1,500 American and coalition personnel are currently in the Kurdistan Region, representing seven countries - primarily the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy.

The developments come as Washington and Baghdad had agreed in 2021 to shift their security partnership into an advise-and-assist mission.

The push accelerated after the US strike in 2020 that killed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) deputy Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Iran’s Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani near Baghdad International Airport. Following the strike, 168 lawmakers in Iraq’s 329-seat parliament voted for the expulsion of foreign troops.

Upcoming US-Iraq talks

Importantly, Muhammadawi said that between January and June next year, a joint committee - including himself, Iraqi Army Chief of Staff Abdul-Amir Yarallah, Peshmerga Ministry Secretary General Bakhtiar Mohammed, and “several other members” - will negotiate with the US to determine future troop levels and the scope of bilateral security cooperation.

“The negotiation aims to draft a memorandum to determine the number of American personnel and soldiers needed to remain in Iraq, along with drafting an agreement for joint work, security cooperation, and bilateral intelligence,” he said, noting that the memorandum “will be only with the United States, not the international coalition.”

He added that cooperation with the wider coalition would continue when needed.

“Our relationship with international coalition forces continues and whenever we need them, they assist us in providing security and intelligence information.”

Formed in 2014 under former US President Barack Obama, the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS brought together nearly 89 states and international organizations, initially launching operations with airstrikes before expanding to training and advising Iraqi forces. Notably, Syria became the latest to join the coalition earlier this month as its 90th member.

Muhammadawi said ISIS has “retreated and weakened significantly” and no longer has the ability to conduct organized armed attacks, though small hideouts remain.

Despite its territorial defeat in 2017, ISIS sleeper cells continue to threaten multiple disputed provinces, including Diyala, Kirkuk, Nineveh, and Salahaddin.

According to Muhammadawi, ISIS militants are now confined to limited areas such as “the Anbar desert, [northeast Iraq’s] Hamrin Mountains, and the valleys in Kirkuk.”

Malik Abbasi contributed to this article from Erbil.