US troops begin withdrawal from key Iraqi bases
US troops begin withdrawal from key Iraqi bases
US troops have begun withdrawing from two key Iraqi bases, according to regional media reports, in a sign that the Trump administration is following through with plans to end American military presence in Iraq.
The US began a sudden withdrawal from Ain al-Asad base in Anbar province and the Victory Base Complex, located within the Baghdad International Airport, on Sunday, Iraqi news site Kurdistan 24 reported.
According to the report, the withdrawal of all US soldiers from the bases is being conducted in stages, but they will be emptied within “days". Some of the US soldiers will relocate to Erbil, in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, the report added.
Iraq’s Shafaq news site reported earlier that a convoy of US soldiers from Ain al-Asad was en route to Syria - the US maintains several bases in northest Syria - and that others would redeploy to Erbil.
The pullout signals that the Trump administration is pushing ahead with a plan to withdraw US soldiers from Iraq.
In September 2024, Reuters reported that US and Iraqi negotiators had agreed on a plan during the Biden administration to end the US military presence, which required only the sign-off of leaders in Baghdad and Washington.
According to Reuters, the plan called for all US-led coalition forces to leave Ain al-Asad air base in western Anbar province and significantly reduce their presence in Baghdad by September 2025.
The 2024 talks took place under very different conditions, underscoring just how much the region has changed.
By September 2024, Iranian-backed militias had launched at least 70 attacks on US forces in Iraq, as part of the simmering regional conflict unleashed by the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel.
US soldiers also came under attack in Jordan.
The Iraqi militias who attacked US troops belong to a group aligned with Tehran called the "Axis of Resistance", which included Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis, and Bashar al-Assad’s former government in Syria. That loose network has been pummelled.
Less than a year later, Hezbollah’s leadership was assassinated by Israel, and its forces were severely decimated. Islamist rebels ousted Assad from power in late 2024.
Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Units, the umbrella organisation of Iraqi state-funded and Iran-aligned Shia militias, was spared the fate of Assad and Hezbollah. But Tehran was put on its back heels from Israel’s surprise attack and the US’s bombing of its nuclear sites.
The US and Baghdad had an agreement to keep US soldiers in Iraq as part of efforts to defeat the Islamic State militant (IS) group. However, as Israel’s genocide on Gaza escalated, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani faced new calls to end the US presence.
The Trump administration itself showed little interest in remaining in Iraq. Earlier this year, it already started downsizing its troop presence in Syria despite resistance from Israel. Critics of the US’s “forever wars" are likely to welcome the withdrawal.
US and coalition soldiers are expected to stay in Erbil, in the Kurdish semi-autonomous region, for just one more year. The withdrawal of US troops from this region would leave just a smaller US military presence in northeastern Syria.
The US’s legal justification for being in Syria, home to roughly 1,400 US troops, is also based on Washington’s agreement with Baghdad.
US troops are officially in Syria to ensure the enduring defeat of IS, but their presence is also seen as a strategic wedge against Iran and its proxies.
However, with Assad gone and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa now aligned with Turkey and Sunni Gulf Monarchs, the US military footprint in Syria could diminish further.
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