Iraq’s government said Sunday that US forces have completed a “full withdrawal” from military facilities within the country’s federal territory, which excludes the semiautonomous Kurdistan region where US troops remain,
CNN reports.
Iraq’s Defense Ministry said the final contingent of US advisers has left al-Asad Air Base in Anbar province in western Iraq, which hosted US troops for more than two decades.
The US military has been drawing down for several years after the Iraqi government called for it do so in 2023.
The US-led coalition to fight the Islamic State group also withdrew from the Joint Operations Command headquarters, leaving the installations under the full control of Iraqi security forces, the ministry statement added.
US forces remain at Harir Air Base in Erbil province in the Kurdistan region. Iraq’s central government does not fully control the Kurdish region in northern Iraq, which has its own government, parliament and security forces, as recognized by the Iraqi constitution.
The US military presence in Iraq has fluctuated greatly since the 2003 invasion. At its height, the US had 170,000 troops in Iraq. In 2011, President Barack Obama withdrew US forces from the country. About 5,000 troops were deployed to Iraq in 2014 at the request of the Iraqi government, which sought US assistance in the fight against ISIS.
Since December 2021, when the US military announced the end of its combat role in the country, the US has had roughly 2,500 troops in Iraq in an advise and assist capacity.
For nearly a decade, US forces fought a number of deadly battles across the country, beginning with the military campaign that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.
According to the US Defense Department, 4,418 American service members died in Iraq between 2003 and 2012, including 3,481 killed in hostile action. An additional 31,994 were wounded during the same period.
The deadliest year for US forces was 2007, when 635 service members were killed at the height of sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite communities.
