US confirms change to military mission in Iraq
The move comes ahead of next month's scheduled withdrawal from certain areas in the country.
Iraq and the US announced an agreement in September last year, under which the mission of the US-led coalition against ISIS will end by next month, with the remainder of American forces in he country to depart by the end of 2026.
Reports suggested US troops had begun withdrawing from the Ain Al Assad base in the west of the country and from Baghdad International Airport to Erbil in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region. A US embassy representative told The National this marked a "transition of the coalition's military mission in Iraq to a more traditional bilateral security partnership".
"This is not the end of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, which will continue civilian-led efforts globally," the representative said, stopping short of explicitly confirming whether some troops had been moved.
Hussein Allawi, adviser to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani, told The National on Monday that the government remained committed to ending the US-led mission and shifting to a bilateral security partnership – without either side detailing what this would entail.
'The government's vision is to find a sustainable relationship that covers all fields, among them the security field,' he said.
He noted that this approach has been pursued through 'a set of methodological foundations', beginning with the Higher Military Committee that discussed the mission of the International Coalition and the ending of the missions in September 2025 and 2026.
According to the plan, coalition activities at its headquarters and at Ain Al Assad airbase will conclude in September 2025 as part of the first phase. The second and final phase is scheduled for completion in September 2026.
He stressed that the process reflects 'the Iraqi government's commitment to implementing the agreement on ending the missions of the International Coalition and transferring the relations towards bilateral relations', describing it as a return to 'normal bilateral relations to the stage before the fall of Mosul on June 10, 2014'.
Iraq seeks to maintain co-operation with the US, UK, Spain, Turkey, Nato and the European Union 'under the path of strategic agreements between the Republic of Iraq and the friendly countries of Iraq", he added. In particular, Baghdad aims to keep ties with Washington under the umbrella of the existing Strategic Framework Agreement.
Dispute over US presence
The US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS was formed in 2014 to degrade and defeat the group. Its military operations began with air strikes and later expanded to include advising and training Iraqi security forces.
About 2,500 are still based in Iraq, where they work with Iraqi and Kurdish partners against ISIS cells. Iraq is also a launch pad for US-led anti-ISIS operations in Syria, where the group continues to operate but no longer controls territory.
Sabah Al Numan, the prime minister's military spokesman, hailed the development as an "achievement and a testament to Iraq's ability to face terrorism and maintain security and stability without external assistance".
US presence in the country has been a major point of contention in domestic Iraqi politics, sparking opposition from Tehran as well as Iran-aligned groups and politicians. The agreement for a staggered withdrawal was the outcome of increasing pressure by these factions on the Iraqi government to expel US forces from the country.
American forces have also come under repeated attacks by Iran-backed forces since the US killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps chief Qassem Suleimani in an air strike in 2020. Ain Al Assad, one of the largest military installations housing US troops, was targeted by Iranian missiles in response, causing more than 100 troops to suffer traumatic brain injuries.
There was also a surge in the number of attacks after the start of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023, with groups operating under the umbrella of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claiming rocket and drone attacks on US assets.
The change in the mission's status comes days after a security agreement between Iran and Iraq, signed during Iran's senior security chief Ali Larijani's visit to the country, sparked US backlash.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
a minute ago
- The National
ISIS leader killed in Syria in joint Iraqi and US operation
ISIS leader Salah Numan Al Jubouri, who was in charge of the group's financing, was killed in Syria on Wednesday in an operation between Iraqi troops, the US coalition and Syrian forces, sources have told The National. Al Jubouri was also in charge of ISIS fighters' movement between Syria and Iraq, the sources added. "Coalition forces carried out an air drop targeting a house in the town of Atme" in Idlib province, state television quoted an unidentified security source as saying. The coalition has yet to release any statements about an operation in north-west Syria. Syrian state television said the forces raided a home where Al Jubouri was living with his family and fatally shot him after he jumped from the balcony of their first-floor flat. An Iraqi security source, requesting anonymity, told AFP that Al Jubouri was the brother of a top ISIS leader who was killed in 2020 in a coalition strike in the eastern Deir Ezzor province of Syria. The US-led coalition has often carried out strikes in Idlib, attacking ISIS officials, including a raid announced in June. Several former leaders of the group have been killed in the province, including in coalition strikes. The latest mission comes as a change in the status of the US's military mission in Iraq has been confirmed to The National. It said it is transitioning to a bilateral security partnership. The move comes before next month's scheduled withdrawal from areas of the country. Iraq and the US announced an agreement in September last year, under which the US-led coalition's mission against ISIS would end by next month. The remainder of US troops will leave the country by the end of 2026. The US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS was formed in 2014 to fight the group, which took control of large areas of the country in a swift operation. The coalition's military operations began with air strikes and expanded to include advising and training Iraqi security troops. ISIS was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria two years later, but sleeper cells still carry out attacks in both countries. In recent years, attacks have decreased, but with the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, some experts fear attacks may increase.
The National
2 hours ago
- The National
Israel and Australia's war of words: How did we get here?
Unprecedented tension is placing significant strain on historically close ties between Israel and Australia. Canberra has been ramping up criticism of its ally over the devastating war in Gaza. Australia was one of the first countries to recognise Israel in 1949 and has been one of its staunchest supporters. Now the two are locked in a war of words and tit-for-tat visa restrictions in a dramatic escalation of their diplomatic row. How did we get here? Recognising Palestine It started when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on August 11 that Australia would recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly next month. The situation in Gaza has gone 'beyond the world's worst fears', he added. France, Canada and the UK have also announced plans to recognise Palestine in September, dealing a major blow to Israel's long-held opposition to Palestinian statehood. Visa ban A week later, the Australian government cancelled the visa of Simcha Rothman, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's coalition who opposes Palestinian statehood and has called for Israel to annex the occupied West Bank. Knesset member Mr Rothman had been scheduled to visit Australia at the invitation of a conservative Jewish organisation. His visa was revoked by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke just 24 hours before he was due to arrive. 'If you are coming to Australia to spread a message of hate and division, we don't want you here,' Mr Burke told local media on the visa ban, which denies the Israeli legislator entry for three years. It came in response to 'inflammatory remarks' made by Mr Rothman, including calling Palestinian children 'enemies' and his assertion that Palestinian statehood would lead to the destruction of Israel. On the same day as his trip was cancelled, Israel retaliated by revoking the visas of Australian diplomats to the Palestinian Authority. 'I have decided to revoke the residency visas of Australia's representatives to the Palestinian Authority,' Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a post on X. 'I also instructed the Israeli embassy in Canberra to carefully examine any official Australian visa application for entry to Israel.' He also accused the Albanese government of 'choosing to fuel' anti-Semitism. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the move was 'unjustified' and said Israel was 'undermining international efforts towards peace and a two-state solution '. Personal attack Mr Netanyahu then lashed out at Mr Albanese, accusing him of 'betraying Israel'. 'History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia's Jews,' wrote Mr Netanyahu on X. The Australian Prime Minister seemed unaffected by Mr Netanyahu's criticism. 'I don't take these things personally. I engage with people diplomatically. He has had similar things to say about other leaders,' he said during a media briefing. Mr Burke was more stern in his response to Mr Netanyhau. 'Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry,' he said, in the harshest language used against Israel to date. Simmering tensions Despite the swift escalation, tension between Canberra and Israel has been simmering since last August, when Australia officially reinstated the term 'occupied Palestinian Territories', in line with UN Security Council resolutions. Ms Wong said the decision reaffirmed their commitment to a two-state solution. But as Israel's aggression in Gaza escalated in recent months, with images of starving children flooding social media and mounting deaths of people seeking aid, so did Australia's criticism. 'The situation in Gaza has gone beyond the world's worst fears,' Mr Albanese said in July. 'Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe. 'Israel's denial of aid and the killing of civilians, including children, seeking access to water and food cannot be defended or ignored.' Back in 1949, Australia, under prime minister Ben Chifley, played a considerable role in the creation and recognition of Israel. It could be on the way to playing a similar role for Palestine.
Zawya
3 hours ago
- Zawya
Iraq's Development Road project to boost Turkey's exports to GCC
When Iraq unveiled its biggest integrated rail and road project traversing most of its territory up to Turkey's border in the north, Ankara was the first investor to respond to Baghdad's appeal for partners. Turkey apparently was aware that the gains from the project, dubbed 'The Development Road,' far outweigh its large costs. The multimodal project involves the construction of a 1,200-kilometre rail line and a parallel motorway from the southern Iraqi Faw port through 11 governorates to the Turkish border at a total estimated cost of over $17 billion. 'As you know, the Development Road will create a land route to the Gulf….this will offer a much faster and more cost-effective alternative to sea travel,' said Nabil AL-Marsoumi, an economics professor at Basra University in South Iraq. 'Studies have shown that this project is expected to significantly increase trade between Turkey on one side and Iraq and Gulf states on the other side…I believe the main beneficiary is Turkey's exports to the region.' Turkey is already a major trading partner of Iraq and the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), with the value of its exports of goods to these countries standing at around $127 billion during 2020-2024, according to Turkey's statistical institute. Iraq emerged as the largest market for Turkey's exports, with a value of nearly $60 billion during that period. Turkey's exports to the UAE soared from around $2.8 billion in 2020 to $8.3 billion in 2024. The figures showed Turkey's imports from Iraq and the GCC stood at around $83 billion during that period, with the balance remaining largely in favour of Ankara. Turkey's exports to all Arab countries totaled around $40 billion during the first 10 months of 2024, an increase of about eight percent over the same period of 2023. Turkish transport minister Abdul Qadir Oglu said this year that after it is commissioned in late 2028, the development road would boost Turkey's trade with Iraq from around $20 billion to $30-40 billion per year. Iraq's transport ministry said in December that the Development Road would generate annual earnings of at least $four billion to shareholders, who also include the governments of Iraq, Qatar and the UAE. The earnings exclude the investments and incomes expected from nearly 20 economic and industrial zones to be constructed all along the road and around Faw, which will be one of the world's largest container terminals when commissioned in 2026. "In 2024, Iraq suffered from a trade deficit with Turkey of around $10.7 billion due to its large imports from that country and its limited exports to Turkey,' well-known Iraqi economist Manar Al-Obaidi said. 'I think that the gap could widen after the development road is completed unless Iraq tries to take advantage and increase exports to Turkey…anyway, there is no doubt that this project will benefit Turkey most as it will allow it to expand its export markets and also boost investments in Iraq and the Gulf.' (Reporting by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon) (
