The Pentagon confirmed in a statement on Tuesday its intention to end its military mission in Iraq. According to a US official, this process will result in Baghdad taking the lead in the fight against the remnants of the Islamic State (IS) group on its territory, Reuters reports.
Under the plan, the US and its coalition allies will focus on fighting IS remnants in Syria and will transfer the majority of their personnel to Iraqi Kurdistan to carry out this mission, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
As of early 2025, there were approximately 2,500 US troops in Iraq and over 900 in neighboring Syria as part of the coalition formed in 2014 to fight IS, which is wreaking havoc in both countries. According to the official, after the transition period, the total number of US troops in Iraq will be less than 2,000, most of whom will be based in Erbil.
“The final number has not yet been determined,” the official added, without providing a specific timeframe. American troops remaining in Baghdad will focus on ongoing bilateral security cooperation rather than the fight against ISIS. “ISIS no longer poses an ongoing threat to the Iraqi government or the United States from Iraqi soil. This is a significant achievement that allows us to take greater responsibility for Iraqi leadership of its own security efforts,” the senior US military official stated.
Last year, the US reached an agreement with Iraq to withdraw from the Ain al-Asad Air Base in western Anbar Province and hand it over to Iraq. A US official stated that the transfer is still “in progress” and declined to provide further details.
While the Trump administration has also outlined plans to reduce troop levels in Syria, the official stated that this is conditional, and “we are currently maintaining the status quo.”