For Iraq's government in Baghdad, September 30, 2026, marks the end of an era. "October 1 will be a new day in the course of the Iraqi state, with the country free of any foreign military presence and the completion of national sovereignty over its territory," Iraq's Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said in a statement. The occasion will be celebrated as "Independence Day" with four official public holidays.
By Wednesday, the United States will have completed the withdrawal of its remaining 2,500 troops from Iraqi territory according to a 2024 agreement. Their departure concludes 12 years of the US-led Operation Inherent Resolve mission against the Islamic State group, or ISIS, which at the time was advancing across the country and in neighboring Syria. The withdrawal also marks the end of more than two decades of US military involvement in Iraq.
Following the US invasion in 2003, US forces withdrew in 2011 and returned in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group. The withdrawal also follows the broader US strategy of reducing its military presence in the Middle East. However, the US withdrawal does not mean an end to all foreign military deployments in Iraq.
Turkey still has troops in Iraq, even though Ankara said earlier this week that it would gradually hand over a military base in northern Iraq to Baghdad. "In 2024, Baghdad and Washington agreed to what they called a normalized relationship," Renad Mansour, deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa program and director of the Iraq Initiative at the London-based think tank Chatham House, told DW. "For Baghdad, the political aim will be now to make clear that Iraq wants to remain an ally of the US," he said.
In his view, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is concerned that Washington could start viewing Iraq and its Iran-backed non-state militias as too close to Iran, given that the US and Israel are at war with Iran. Initially, Baghdad had linked the end of the US military mission to the disarmament of Iraq's numerous armed groups and militias. The plan also included bringing these paramilitary groups under state control.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said last week that the new deadline was June 30, 2027. The revised plan includes a 90-day period during which armed groups would refrain from attacks in exchange for assurances that US forces would not target them, followed by a gradual handover of weapons that is due to be completed by June 30, 2027. Yet not all armed groups are likely to follow this plan as several powerful armed groups have rejected disarmament or demanded conditions that could delay the process.
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