US-led coalition to end Iraq mission September 30, Iraqi forces confirm

September 7, 2026 at 06:30 PM2 min

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The US-led international military coalition will conclude its mission in Iraq on September 30, Iraqi armed forces confirmed to state media. The withdrawal includes removal of US air defence systems from Erbil, which have intercepted Iranian missiles and drones. The move follows a 2024 agreement between Baghdad and Washington.

Key Facts

Lieutenant General Abdul Amir al-Shammari, director of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief, said September 30 is the end date for the coalition mission in Iraq.
The withdrawal includes removal of US air defence systems stationed in Erbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdish region.
Under a 2024 agreement between Baghdad and Washington, the withdrawal includes the removal of US air defence systems from Erbil.
US forces led the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which resulted in approximately 200,000 civilian deaths in war-related violence.
Iyad al-Anbar, a political science professor at the University of Baghdad, said the military withdrawal is largely a formality.

Coalition Mission End

Lieutenant General Abdul Amir al-Shammari, director of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, told the Iraqi News Agency on Monday that September 30 is the date for the end of the international coalition forces' mission in Iraq. The prime minister's office said September 30 will be the fixed and final date for ending the military mission of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in Iraq and completing the departure of its forces. October 1 will mark a new day in the trajectory of the Iraqi state, as Iraq will be free of any foreign military presence, the prime minister's office added.

Withdrawal Details

Under a 2024 agreement between Baghdad and Washington, the withdrawal includes the removal of US air defence systems stationed in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq. These platforms have been critical to the interception of Iranian ballistic missiles and drones targeting the region amid the US-Israel war on Iran. US forces led the invasion of Iraq in 2003, which resulted in a bloody civil war in the country, with approximately 200,000 civilians killed in war-related violence. After withdrawing from Iraq in 2011, US forces returned in 2015 as part of an international coalition fighting the ISIL (ISIS) group.

Political Assessment

Iyad al-Anbar, a political science professor at the University of Baghdad, told Al Jazeera that the military withdrawal is largely a formality. He said the concentration of US forces in Iraq is no longer in military barracks or Iraqi military bases, but has become concentrated in the Harir base in Erbil.