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U.S. forces to finish Iraq pullout by Sept. 30, ending anti-ISIS coalition mission

Just a few hundred of about 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq this year remain, NPR reported. An Iraqi commander said no foreign combat forces or bases will stay after Wednesday.

Motion Media News Staff

Sep 27, 2026

3 minutes

Two U.S. Army helicopters lifting off from an airfield in Erbil, Iraq.

Photo: Joseph Kumzak (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons (source)

The last U.S. forces serving under the international coalition against the Islamic State are due out of Iraq by Wednesday, Sept. 30, closing out a military presence that began with the 2003 invasion, NPR and Kurdistan24 reported on Sunday, Sept. 27.

Of about 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq earlier this year, just a few hundred remain, NPR's Jane Arraf reported. U.S. Central Command has said no ceremony will be open to the press, she said, a contrast with the 2011 departure. At the height of the war, the U.S. had about 170,000 troops in the country.

Iraqi officials set the date

Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir al-Shamari, director of the Iraqi commander-in-chief's office, said Sunday that "after this date, there will be no foreign combat forces or military bases inside the country," Kurdistan24 reported. He said Victoria Base near Baghdad has been fully vacated by U.S. personnel and will become a center for receiving diplomatic missions.

Al-Shamari also said Turkey will leave its Bashiqa base in northern Iraq within 60 days under an agreement Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi reached with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the U.N. General Assembly last week, according to Kurdistan24.

Al-Zaidi had called Sept. 30 the "fixed and final date" for ending the coalition's military mission after meeting CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper in August, the Associated Press reported at the time. A U.S. official told AP then that Iraqi forces, including Kurdish Peshmerga units, would lead the fight against the militants.

Security gaps and militias

Iraq's military is much stronger after 23 years of U.S. and allied training but still lacks some capabilities such as intelligence, surveillance and air support, NPR reported. Kurdish leaders say almost 1,000 drones and missiles have struck the Kurdistan region, which Iran and Iran-backed militias have targeted, and that they have no air defenses of their own, according to NPR.

Sept. 30 had also been al-Zaidi's deadline to disarm militias and put all weapons under state control, a pledge he made to President Trump at the White House in July, NPR said. He now says he needs until the middle of next year. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that al-Zaidi has "the right intentions" and that the U.S. would help him, while acknowledging, "We know it will be difficult." Kurdistan24 said a phased plan running to June 2027 is now the primary vehicle for putting Iran-aligned groups under government authority.

What's next

The coalition's military mission formally ends on Sept. 30. The U.S. says it is now focusing on economic rather than military ties with Iraq, a major oil producer, according to NPR.