Iraqi officials say US forces have fully withdrawn from Iraq

An unnamed Iraqi official in Baghdad said all U.S. combat forces and logistical units have fully withdrawn from Iraq, a development that has not yet been confirmed by Washington. The claim, if accurate, would mark the end of a U.S. military presence that has lasted in various forms since 2003.

According to the account from Baghdad, U.S. forces had been stationed in the Kurdish region of Erbil, at a base near Baghdad’s airport and inside the government district known as the Green Zone. There has been no official statement from the U.S. government to verify the reported pullout.

Context and timeline

Baghdad and Washington agreed in 2024 on a withdrawal of U.S. forces; Pentagon figures at the time put the number of deployed U.S. troops in Iraq at about 2,500. The reported deadline for the pullout falls on Wednesday, 30 September, a date that coincides with national holidays in Iraq.

Security in Iraq deteriorated again after the outbreak of the war between Iran and Iraq, during which U.S. facilities and personnel in the country were attacked, and Kurdish forces also came under fire. The Kurdish region has been targeted by hundreds of rocket and drone strikes; the office of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s prime minister, Masrour Barzani, was among locations that were hit.

The Iraqi prime minister, Ali al-Saidi, had previously announced a plan to disarm and integrate Iran-backed paramilitary groups into state security forces in parallel with the U.S. withdrawal, but that plan has since been postponed until June next year.

Masrour Barzani voiced strong criticism of the reported withdrawal, calling it shameful. He said, “The threat is real, we are vulnerable and under attack. It is shameful to be left without any, let's call it, a suitable defense system.”

Photo: Arhiva