After more than a decade, the US-led coalition is ending its mission in Iraq, having helped save the country from jihadists while causing persistent friction. Coalition troops deployed to Iraq and Syria in 2014 to fight the Islamic State (IS) group, which had seized large swathes of both countries and committed massacres and atrocities.

The group was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019, but coalition forces stayed on to battle the group’s remnants. Baghdad and Washington agreed in 2024 to wind down the coalition’s mission, and its troops withdrew gradually from bases across the country, restricting their presence to the autonomous northern Kurdistan region. Their final withdrawal from there is scheduled for Wednesday.

The Iraqi government believes the coalition’s withdrawal removes the excuse powerful Tehran-backed militant factions have used to retain their weapons. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi declared that October 1, the day following the coalition’s departure, should be celebrated as Sovereignty Day. It is “a national occasion that affirms the completion of Iraq’s path toward sovereignty and consolidates the presence of the state and its institutions”, the heads of the executive, legislative and judicial branches said on Monday.

They added that “the presence of weapons outside state authority must be addressed… in line with timelines set by the government, in a manner that strengthens state sovereignty”.

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