Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has told Bloomberg that the official end date for the US-led anti-ISIS coalition will be announced soon and reiterated that Iraqi security forces no longer need the US’s help to fight ISIS remnants.
“We will announce the conclusion of the international coalition’s mission in Iraq during our participation in the international conference against ISIS,” al-Sudani said. “The justification for the coalition’s presence no longer exists. There is no need for a coalition. We have moved on from wars to stability. ISIS is not really representing a challenge.”
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that under a withdrawal plan that has yet to be announced, the US would remove hundreds of the 2,500 troops it has in Iraq by September 2025 and complete the withdrawal by September 2026. However, the report said the US could leave troops in the country under a new advisory relationship.
The Biden administration has made clear it wants to keep troops in Iraq. In August, the State Department said the talks with Iraq had been focused on creating a new “bilateral security partnership” and that “at no point” was the idea of a withdrawal being discussed.
While al-Sudani has repeatedly stated over the past year that Iraqi forces don’t need American help to fight ISIS, US troops are still involved in combat operations. Seven US troops were wounded in a raid against a suspected ISIS hideout on August 29.
Al-Sudani began calling for an end to the US military presence following an escalation between the US and Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a coalition of mostly Shia militias that are part of Iraq’s security forces.
The US launched heavy airstrikes against the PMF over rocket and drone attacks on US bases, which began in response to US support for Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza. Hundreds of attacks targeted US bases before a drone hit Tower 22, a secretive US base in Jordan on the Syrian border, in January, killing three US Army Reserve soldiers.
