Baghdad reports full US troop withdrawal as Kurdish leaders condemn exit

Official announcement and base departures

Iraqi government officials announced on Sunday that all United States combat and logistical support troops have completed their withdrawal from the country. The departure fulfills a bilateral timetable agreed between Washington and Baghdad in 2024, concluding an operation that in recent years maintained approximately 2,500 American soldiers on Iraqi soil. Prior to their departure, the remaining forces operated from three key locations: an installation adjacent to Baghdad International Airport, the diplomatic and governmental compound known as the Green Zone, and a multinational base in Erbil. Although an Iraqi government representative told news agencies that all combat personnel have departed, the United States military has not yet published an official confirmation.

Domestic reaction and militia integration delay

Following the announcement, Baghdad declared four consecutive national public holidays starting Wednesday, September 30, which marks the formal expiration of the withdrawal deadline. Iraqi authorities designated the period as Independence Day, scheduling government offices and public institutions to close. The exit occurs alongside ongoing negotiations over domestic military power structures. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Saidi had previously announced an initiative to disarm powerful Iranian-aligned militia groups and integrate their fighters into the official Iraqi state security apparatus. However, the Iraqi government postponed this disarmament timetable, shifting the target date for militia integration to June 2027.

Kurdish leadership warns of defensive vulnerability

In northern Iraq, authorities in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region strongly criticized the timing and nature of the American departure. Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani warned that the withdrawal leaves regional authorities exposed to regional hostilities without adequate protection.

The threat is real - we are vulnerable, we are under attack. Now to be left on our own without, let's say, an adequate defensive system, is shameful.

Barzani noted that current Iraqi legal frameworks prevent the regional Kurdish administration in Erbil from purchasing independent air defense batteries, leaving defense procurement exclusively under the control of the central government in Baghdad. Kurdish territory has been targeted by hundreds of missiles and drones since the war in Iran escalated with a US-Israeli offensive in February. These strikes included direct hits on Erbil and an attack on Barzani's executive office. Erbil also houses a multinational military installation where German Bundeswehr personnel have been stationed since 2015, and reports indicate that German troops may remain deployed in Erbil for now.

Timeline from 1991 to 2026

The withdrawal brings to a close over two decades of direct American military engagement that originated with the 2003 invasion to depose Saddam Hussein. Kurdish autonomy in northern Iraq had previously developed under the protection of a US-enforced no-fly zone established in 1991. Although American troops completed a full exit in 2011, the Pentagon redeployed personnel to Iraq in 2014 following an official request from Baghdad to counter the rapid expansion of the Islamic State. The jihadist group was declared militarily defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019, though active sleeper cells continue to carry out isolated attacks. The US combat mission was formally concluded in 2021, setting the terms for the 2024 withdrawal pact.