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The last remaining British and American military personnel have departed Iraq, closing a chapter that began more than a decade ago when international forces intervened to confront the rise of the Islamic State group. The final contingent of approximately 100 UK troops left their base in Irbil, located in the northern Kurdistan region, in a departure that had been coordinated with US forces over recent weeks. American personnel also completed their exit on Wednesday.
The withdrawal fulfills an agreement signed two years ago between Washington and Baghdad, which stipulated that foreign troops would leave Iraqi territory by the end of this month. British and US forces had maintained a presence in the country since 2014 as part of the international coalition assembled to defeat IS, a mission formally known as Operation Inherent Resolve. With their departure, that operation has now officially concluded.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi described the end of the coalition's mission as a significant moment for his country. He stated that it represented "Iraq's transition to a phase in which it assumes full responsibility for its security and stability." To commemorate the occasion, Iraq is scheduled to observe four "Sovereignty Days" as a national holiday marking the foreign troop withdrawal.
The UK Ministry of Defence issued a statement paying tribute to the contribution of British personnel, noting that Iraqi Security Forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga had achieved "the enduring territorial defeat of Daesh in Iraq" following more than ten years of operations, training and capacity building. The MoD said that with these objectives accomplished, Iraq and its international partners could begin "a new chapter focused on enduring security co-operation under Iraqi leadership," using the Arabic acronym for IS.
According to the Ministry of Defence, UK personnel provided valuable support, training and assistance to more than 111,000 members of the Iraqi Security Forces, including over 21,000 Peshmerga fighters in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region. The Royal Air Force conducted thousands of sorties during the campaign and struck more than 2,300 IS targets, underscoring the scale of the UK's military contribution to the coalition effort.
From the American side, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell characterised the coalition's departure from Irbil as "the successful conclusion of the military mission that defeated [IS] in Iraq." He emphasised that the primary responsibility for tackling Iraq's remaining security challenges now falls to the Iraqi government, specifically citing IS remnants and Iran-aligned militias that he said undermine Iraqi sovereignty and regional stability.
Although the Iraqi government declared the military defeat of IS in 2017, coalition forces had remained in the country to help prevent the group from regrouping and reemerging as a significant threat. A recent United Nations report estimated that sustained counter-terrorism operations by Iraqi security forces had reduced IS to several hundred fighters, who were described as being capable of carrying out "unsophisticated operations only."
Beyond the threat posed by IS remnants, the Iraqi government confronts the persistent challenge of Iranian-backed militias operating within its borders. Prime Minister Zaidi, who assumed office in May, has pledged to disarm these groups and bring all weapons under state control following the coalition's exit. However, several powerful factions have resisted his plans, and analysts suggest their influence could expand now that US forces are no longer present in the country.
The final months of the coalition's presence were marked by heightened insecurity. Since the outbreak of war between the US and Israel against Iran earlier this year, Iranian-backed militias had been targeting the remaining American and British forces stationed at Irbil air base. Hundreds of Nato troops based in Baghdad left Iraq in March as tensions escalated across the region.
A BBC team visited the coalition base in Irbil in April during a fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran, and was forced to circle the base in an RAF transport aircraft while drones were being launched nearby. At the peak of the US bombing campaign against Iran, the base was targeted by as many as 28 drones and missiles in a single day, according to the report.
RAF Regiment Gunners, among the last British military personnel at the base, had shot down more than 100 drones during the first six weeks of the conflict. Many of the attacking drones were launched by Iranian-backed militias operating inside Iraq, illustrating how the coalition's presence had become entangled in the broader regional confrontation between the US and Iran and its proxies.
Looking ahead, the RAF is expected to continue flying missions over neighbouring Syria to prevent IS remnants from gaining a foothold there. The Pentagon has indicated that the US will maintain "targeted training and intelligence support" for its Iraqi partners, suggesting that while the large-scale troop presence has ended, military cooperation between Washington and Baghdad will persist in a more limited form.
US Central Command confirmed that the coalition's joint taskforce remains operational and is now headquartered in Jordan. American forces will also continue their mission against IS in Syria, where the United Nations estimates the group still has up to 3,000 fighters, indicating that the broader campaign against the organisation is far from over despite the conclusion of operations in Iraq.
This marks the third occasion on which US and UK forces have withdrawn from Iraq. Tens of thousands of troops were first deployed to the country in 1991 following Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. They returned in 2003, when US President George W Bush ordered Operation Iraqi Freedom to remove Saddam from power and eliminate weapons of mass destruction that ultimately proved not to exist. The fierce sectarian insurgency that followed the invasion cost tens of thousands of lives, leaving a legacy that continues to shape Iraq's security landscape today.
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