The U.S. military declared an end to its Iraq-based anti-ISIS operation Wednesday, saying all U.S.-led coalition forces and equipment had been withdrawn from a key base in the north of the country in line with an agreement reached previously with the Iraqi government. "The orderly departure of Coalition forces and equipment from Erbil Air Base marks the successful conclusion of the military mission that defeated ISIS in Iraq," Department of Defense spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement. "This milestone reflects the success of a 12-year campaign that defeated ISIS as an organized military threat in Iraq and across the region.
It also marks a transition from a wartime coalition mission to an Iraqi-led security effort supported by a more normal bilateral security relationship." The U.S. military launched Operation Inherent Resolve in 2014 to confront ISIS, the terrorist group that grew out of the remnants of al-Qaeda in Iraq and seized vast portions of Iraq and neighboring Syria in the years immediately preceding the U.S.-led operation. Roughly 2,000 Americans were present in Iraq as of February, officials said at the time. By comparison, more than 160,000 U.S. service members were in the country at the peak of the late 2000s "surge" under Operation Iraqi Freedom — a prior mission to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and grapple with a years-long civil war.
As part of the anti-ISIS mission, U.S. troops have served in both Iraq and Syria. The roughly 1,500 troops that had been in Syria for a number of years withdrew earlier this year. The end of the mission was agreed upon several years ago between the U.S. and Iraq in a plan that prescribed a transition to a more bilateral relationship between the two countries.
In the 2024 joint agreement, Iraq and the U.S. announced the end of the multi-country coalition to defeat ISIS by 2025, and the expected end of the Inherent Resolve mission by the end of 2026. The mission has pushed ISIS from controlling any significant territory, but it doesn't mean ISIS ceases to exist. In December 2025, two U.S. soldiers and a translator were killed in an ISIS attack, according to the U.S. military's Central Command.
The U.S. retaliated with airstrikes. American troops have been targeted by Iranian-backed militias inside Iraq in recent years, a threat that has grown more pronounced since the U.S. and Israel jointly launched the ongoing war against Iran. According to the Pentagon, militias affiliated with Iran launched more than 600 attacks against U.S. citizens and facilities between February and April 2026.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed the attacks in a July meeting at the Pentagon with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, according to a Pentagon readout. They discussed the transition from the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS to a bilateral relationship, and Hegseth, according to the readout, committed to ending Inherent Resolve by Sept. 30. Al-Zaidi has promised to disarm the Iran-backed militias in Iraq.
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