US military forces will reportedly relocate to the Kurdistan region until September 2026
The US army is preparing to start withdrawing troops from several sites in Iraq, including in the capital Baghdad, and will relocate them to the northern city of Erbil in the country’s autonomous Kurdistan region, according to Al-Sumeriya.
An Iraqi government source told the outlet on 17 August that “the international coalition will withdraw from Ain al-Assad base, Baghdad airport, and the Joint Operations Command toward the city of Erbil.”
The source added that “the withdrawal of coalition forces will take place in September, in implementation of the agreement between Baghdad and Washington,” noting that “the military trainers will remain in the country and have nothing to do with the withdrawal of international coalition forces.”
Al-Sumeriya also noted that there had been previous reports about the start of the withdrawal and transfer of American equipment from the Ain al-Asad base in western Iraq, in implementation of the Iraqi-American agreement to end the US-led international coalition’s mission, beginning in September 2025. Those reports said that US forces would remain in the city of Erbil and northern Iraq until September 2026.
There have been ongoing talks between Washington and Baghdad for an agreement to end the “combat role” of the international ‘anti-ISIS’ coalition led by Washington.
In September last year, Washington and Baghdad made a joint statement announcing the end of the coalition’s military mission in Iraq by September 2025.
The talks revolve around transitioning the role of US forces in Iraq into an advisory role, rather than a complete withdrawal of all troops.
At the same time, Baghdad has been under heavy US pressure to disarm Iran-linked resistance factions in the country.
At the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, these Iraqi factions banded together and began launching rocket and drone attacks on US bases, but stopped after government pressure following the killing of three US soldiers in an attack on a base near the Jordan–Syria border in January 2024.
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For several months afterwards, the Iraqi resistance continued to target sites within Israel with drone operations, and even carried out joint operations with the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF).
Baghdad had been holding talks with the factions about disarmament earlier this year. Yet, the issue hinges mainly on the presence of the US military in Iraq and the groups’ insistence on a complete withdrawal.
Many of these resistance groups are part of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), a coalition of armed factions formed to fight ISIS in 2014, which are now integrated into Iraq’s military structure.
Washington has been pressuring Baghdad against passing a draft law which would further institutionalize the PMU.
It says the move would “legitimize Iranian influence” in the country.
Among the groups represented in the PMU are Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, and the Al-Nujaba Movement. Last year, the US launched heavy strikes on Kataib Hezbollah sites in Iraq.
Washington has reportedly threatened renewed attacks against Iraq if resistance factions linked to Iran are not disarmed.
