U.S. forces have fully withdrawn from the Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq, Iraqi officials said Saturday, completing a key step under a 2024 agreement between Washington and Baghdad to wind down the U.S.-led coalition mission by September 2025.
Iraqi Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah assigned duties to Iraqi units at the base following the withdrawal, the military said in a statement. Yarallah instructed units to increase coordination and make use of the base’s capabilities and strategic location.
A Ministry of Defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, confirmed all U.S. personnel and equipment had left the base.
The initial agreement included a complete U.S. pullout from Ain al-Asad by September. However, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in October that developments in Syria required about 250 to 350 U.S. military advisers and support staff to remain for a time.
U.S. personnel have also maintained a presence in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region and neighboring Syria. The U.S. military did not issue a statement on the latest withdrawal.
Al-Sudani said in July that the full coalition withdrawal would remove any justification for armed groups to operate outside of state control. Iraqi officials have suggested the departure could affect internal efforts to disarm such groups.
