US and allied forces are reducing their presence in Iraq, the Pentagon said Wednesday, winding down a more than decade-long mission there against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group as planned.
Washington and Baghdad agreed last year that the international coalition against IS — established in 2014 to help local forces retake territory seized by the jihadists in Iraq and neighboring Syria — would end its military mission in Iraq by the end of September 2025.
“This reduction reflects our combined success in fighting ISIS and marks an effort to transition to a lasting US-Iraq security partnership,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement, using an acronym for IS.
“The US government will continue close coordination with the government of Iraq and coalition members to ensure a responsible transition,” Parnell added.
A senior defense official told journalists that “we’re in the process of transitioning,” and that “when all is said and done, there will be less than 2,000 troops in Iraq total, and a majority of them will be in Arbil,” the capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.
“US troops simply are not necessary to be in federal Iraq to conduct a counter-ISIS mission. Iraq is eminently capable of doing it themselves,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The troops in Arbil will be “focused on Syria,” the official added.
Baghdad and Washington have agreed that international troops will be permitted to support anti-IS operations in Syria from Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region through September 2026.
Parnell separately announced in April that the United States would roughly halve the number of troops it has deployed in Syria.
The senior defense official said that troop numbers in Syria are now “down from 2,000” but “more than 900,” without providing an exact figure.
IS has suffered major defeats in both Iraq and Syria, but the jihadists still have some fighters in the countryside of both countries, and US forces have carried out periodic strikes and raids to help prevent the group’s resurgence.
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© Agence France-Presse
