Officials confirm US on track to finish troop withdrawal from Iraq by Sept. 30

United States officials confirmed Wednesday that the U.S. military will finish withdrawing its troops from Iraq by the end of September, which will complete an occupation in the Middle Eastern country that began in 2003.

The U.S. agreed to pull its forces from the country in 2024 and U.S. troops pulled out of bases in most areas of Iraq last year but maintained a presence in the semiautonomous northern Kurdish region.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi met with United States Central Command leader Adm. Brad Cooper on Wednesday, and said he affirmed in the meeting that Sept. 30 is the “fixed and final date for ending the military mission of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in Iraq and completing the departure of its forces.”

An unnamed U.S. official also confirmed that the country was on track for completing the withdrawal by Sept. 30, but it was not clear how many troops remain in Iraq. 

“The United States, Iraq and coalition partners have achieved tremendous success in defeating ISIS and now the Iraqi security forces, including the Peshmerga and other Iraqi Kurdistan Region security forces, will lead the fight against terrorists in Iraq,” the official told the Associated Press.

Two Iraqi officials also told the outlet that a drawdown of U.S. forces and military equipment from Erbil began about three weeks ago.

Al-Zaidi also set a deadline for non-state armed groups in Iraq to lay down their weapons by Sept. 30, claiming there would be no justification to carry arms once the foreign troops withdraw.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.