The US-led international coalition is ending its military mission in Iraq after more than a decade, marking a significant shift in the country’s security arrangements and renewing pressure on powerful armed factions to surrender their weapons to the state.
The coalition deployed troops to Iraq and Syria in 2014 to fight the Islamic State (IS) group, which had seized large territories and carried out widespread massacres and atrocities.
Although IS was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019, coalition forces remained in the region to counter the group’s remnants.
Under a 2024 agreement between Baghdad and Washington, coalition troops gradually withdrew from military bases across Iraq, eventually restricting their presence to the autonomous Kurdistan region in the north. Their final withdrawal from the region is scheduled for Wednesday.
Iraqi authorities view the departure as an opportunity to strengthen national sovereignty and address the continued presence of armed groups operating outside government control.
Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has declared October 1, the day after the coalition’s departure, as Sovereignty Day, describing it as a milestone in Iraq’s efforts to consolidate state authority.
In a joint statement on Monday, the heads of Iraq’s executive, legislative and judicial branches said the withdrawal represented progress towards full sovereignty, while stressing the need to address weapons held outside state control.
Zaidi has pledged to establish the government’s monopoly on arms and persuade powerful militant factions to surrender their weapons. His administration initially set September 30 as a disarmament deadline but subsequently withdrew the timeframe as negotiations continued.
However, several influential factions remain reluctant to disarm, with discussions now focused on reaching a compromise that could also address their demands for an end to American political and economic influence.
The powerful Tehran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah group welcomed the coalition’s departure as a step towards greater sovereignty but also issued a warning to the government.
In a statement on Monday, the group said a government that failed to serve its people could be brought down by all possible means.
The coalition’s presence has long been a source of tension between the Iraqi government and Iran-backed armed factions, particularly since the defeat of IS.
During the campaign against the jihadist group, coalition forces and Tehran-backed militias fought on the same side. However, their relationship deteriorated after the immediate threat from IS diminished, with armed factions demanding the withdrawal of American troops and launching drone and missile attacks against coalition personnel.
The attacks prompted retaliatory US strikes that killed several faction commanders over the years.
Tensions intensified during the recent regional conflict involving Iran and its allies, with attacks targeting US-led forces in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
The coalition’s departure has also raised security concerns among residents of Erbil, the Kurdistan region’s capital, where repeated drone attacks have heightened anxiety about the protection previously provided by coalition air-defence systems.
With coalition forces leaving Iraq, the government now faces the challenge of maintaining security, preventing an IS resurgence and negotiating the disarmament of powerful factions while consolidating state control.
The coalition’s withdrawal follows its departure from Syria earlier this year, bringing another phase of the international military campaign against IS to a close.
