Before the deadline | Iraq: US troops have completely withdrawn

A U.S. Army soldier during the U.S. Forces Disengagement Ceremony at Qayyarah Air Base. Photo: Ameer Al Mohammedaw/dpa Baghdad.  According to information from Baghdad, the US military has completely withdrawn from Iraq. All US combat troops and logistical support forces have left the country, an Iraqi government official told the German Press Agency. There was initially no official confirmation of this from the USA. 

Iraq and the USA had agreed on the withdrawal in 2024. According to the Pentagon, around 2,500 US soldiers were stationed in Iraq in recent years. Finally, they remained in Erbil in the Kurdish region, at a base near Baghdad airport and in the capital's government district, known as the Green Zone. 

Since 2014, the USA has been fighting with allied states in Iraq and Syria against the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS), which was declared militarily defeated there in 2017 and 2019, respectively. IS cells remain active and occasionally carry out attacks. But the Sunni terrorist organization has lost the large areas it once controlled in both countries. 

With the Iran war, the security situation in Iraq has deteriorated again. Washington and Tehran have repeatedly fought their conflict there in recent years and have been on the brink of war several times. In the ongoing Iran war, there have been hundreds of attacks, including on US facilities and soldiers in Iraq, but also on targets of Kurdish forces.

Iran and forces loyal to Iran are likely to celebrate the withdrawal. Starting Wednesday, when the deadline for the US withdrawal officially expires, Iraq will celebrate four official holidays. These should be celebrated as “Independence Day” and public institutions should then remain closed.

Actually, the powerful militias in Iraq allied with Iran should be disarmed and integrated into the state security apparatus parallel to the US troop withdrawal. The step announced by Prime Minister Ali al-Saidi was then postponed and is now scheduled to take place in June next year.

In 2003, the US and its allies invaded Iraq despite international criticism to overthrow then-ruler Saddam Hussein. After a withdrawal in 2011, the US military returned in 2014 at the request of the Iraqi government to fight IS. 

The Bundeswehr has also been involved in the operation since 2015, among other things in training soldiers. The current mandate for deployment with up to 500 forces runs until next January. However, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul expects that the Bundeswehr could remain present in Erbil even after the end of the multinational operation.  dpa/nd

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