Iraq and the United States have agreed on a phased withdrawal of the U.S.-led coalition forces combating jihadist groups, though a final agreement has yet to be signed, according to the Iraqi defense minister.

The U.S. currently has around 2,500 troops stationed in Iraq and 900 in Syria, forming part of the international coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group. While ongoing discussions have been held between Baghdad and Washington, no specific withdrawal timeline has been confirmed until now.

On Sunday, Iraqi Defense Minister Thabet al-Abbassi announced that the coalition forces are set to withdraw from bases in Baghdad and other federal Iraqi regions by September 2025, followed by their exit from the autonomous Kurdish region in the north by September 2026. He described the plan as a "two-phased" process and indicated that the agreement might be signed in the coming days.

Al-Abbassi also mentioned that U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had suggested an extension of the withdrawal period, stating that "two years were not enough" for the complete pullout. However, Iraq refused this proposal for an additional third year.

In recent months, coalition forces have been targeted multiple times by drones and rockets in both Iraq and Syria, amidst rising tensions connected to the Israel-Hamas conflict. In response, U.S. forces have launched retaliatory strikes against groups in both countries.

Although IS was driven out of its strongholds in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria by 2019, remnants of the group continue to operate in remote desert regions. Despite this, Iraqi security forces assert that they are fully capable of handling these remaining threats independently.

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