Iraqi Kurdish officials fear a security vacuum after the withdrawal of the U.S.-led coalition

Iraqi and U.S. officials have confirmed the full withdrawal of the U.S.-led coalition troops from Iraq on Wednesday, as part of the agreement reached in September 2024 to complete the exit by September 2026, Al Jazeera reports from Baghdad. Earlier this year, coalition troops left parts of central and northern Iraq, including the Ain al-Assad air base, and moved to the Kurdish region in the north.

While the Iraqi government calls this a “day of sovereignty” and Iran-aligned groups celebrate it as a victory, claiming they forced the U.S. to withdraw, in the north of the country the situation is quite different. Iraqi Kurdish officials raise concerns about the withdrawal and its possible consequences, saying that Iraq’s government and security forces cannot secure the region on their own and the threat from ISIS (ISIL) remains.

The withdrawal ends more than 20 years of U.S. military intervention in the country, Al Jazeera writes. As Reuters reports, President Trump, who in 2016 had called the U.S. invasion of Iraq a big mistake, allowed the final withdrawal on Wednesday, based on the agreement reached in 2024 by former President Joe Biden.

At the same time, Qatar continues its mediation diplomacy to end the seven-month war between Iran and the United States, while President Trump again predicted a swift surrender by Tehran.