US President Donald Trump announced that the final contingent of American troops is leaving Iraq, formally concluding Operation Inherent Resolve.
Addressing the media, Trump described the withdrawal as a decisive victory over ISIS and said it represented a victory for the United States as well as a victory for Iraq. He said the withdrawal brings an end to more than two decades of American military involvement in Iraq.
The withdrawal plan was negotiated between the United States and Iraq under the Biden administration in 2024, with September 30 set as the final deadline.
The Trump administration continued to implement the agreement. US troops first left Iraq in 2011 after an eight-year presence that began with the 2003 US invasion.
They returned in 2014 after ISIS seized large parts of Iraq and Syria and threatened the approaches to Baghdad. Although the US-led campaign defeated ISIS militarily in 2019, American forces remained in Iraq to help prevent a resurgence of the group.