Iraq celebrates ‘Sovereignty Day’ after the withdrawal of U.S. troops, but Kurdish officials express concern

Iraq has declared October 1 “Sovereignty Day” and has begun four-day celebrations across the country to mark the end of the combat mission of the U.S.-led international coalition, as Al Jazeera reports. The celebrations came a day after the last American troops left the air base in Erbil, ending the 11-year mission that began in 2014 to fight the ISIS group.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi described the withdrawal as the start of a “new phase”, defined, as he said, by “Iraq’s sovereignty, the strength of its institutions, the readiness of its forces, the unity of decision-making and balanced partnerships with its friends”. According to the government announcement, October 1 will be celebrated as “Sovereignty Day” — a national event which, according to the heads of the executive, legislative and judicial branches, “affirms the completion of Iraq’s path towards sovereignty”.

But not everyone sees the withdrawal with the same enthusiasm. Kurdish officials in the country’s semi-autonomous north view the development with caution, Al Jazeera warns. They say they are concerned about a possible revival of ISIS and about the loss of American air defence, which played a key role in protecting the region from attacks.

Supporters of the so-called “axis of resistance” celebrate the withdrawal as a historic victory — the full departure of the foreign military presence has long been their demand. The question that remains, as Al Jazeera puts it, is whether sovereignty will be fully achieved while powerful armed groups still operate independently of state control.

The withdrawal came after a two-year phased process, under the Baghdad–Washington agreement that set September 30 as the deadline, and is one of the main regional consequences of the prolonged U.S.–Iran war, which has reshaped the security map of the Middle East.