The United States will withdraw all troops and defense systems from the Kurdistan Region by September 30, ending a military presence that began with the 2003 invasion. This withdrawal concludes the final chapter of a bilateral agreement signed in 2024 between Washington and Baghdad, which formalized the end of the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS mission. US forces have declined from a peak of over 170,000 troops to roughly 2,500 during the counter-ISIS campaign, and are now heading to zero. The final phase is underway in northern Iraq, where Harir Air Base near Erbil is already being evacuated. Despite Kurdish concerns over a security vacuum, Iraqi officials have pledged to assert control over armed groups operating outside state authority.
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