US Military Ends 12-Year Campaign Against ISIS in Iraq

The U.S. military has declared the end of its Iraq-based campaign against Islamic State (ISIS), saying coalition forces and equipment have been withdrawn from a key northern base in line with an agreement with the Iraqi government.

In a statement on Wednesday, Department of Defence spokesman Sean Parnell said the “orderly departure” of U.S.-led coalition forces from Erbil Air Base marked the successful conclusion of the mission that targeted ISIS in Iraq. He said it reflected the end of a 12-year operation that had defeated ISIS as an organised military threat in Iraq and across the wider region, shifting the effort from a wartime coalition to an Iraqi-led security approach supported through a more conventional bilateral relationship.

Campaign Launched in 2014

The operation, known as Inherent Resolve, began in 2014 after ISIS expanded from the remnants of al-Qaeda in Iraq and seized large areas of Iraq and neighbouring Syria in the years before the U.S.-led campaign.

At the time of an earlier official update in February, about 2,000 Americans were in Iraq. That figure was far lower than the peak of more than 160,000 U.S. service members during the late-2000s “surge” under Operation Iraqi Freedom, a predecessor mission aimed at removing Saddam Hussein and responding to the subsequent civil war.

U.S. troops also operated in Syria as part of the anti-ISIS effort. Officials said roughly 1,500 troops that had been stationed in Syria withdrew earlier this year.

Transition Agreed With Iraq

The withdrawal follows agreements reached between Washington and Baghdad several years ago. Those arrangements set out a transition towards a more bilateral security relationship.

In the 2024 joint agreement, Iraq and the United States said the multi-country coalition formed to defeat ISIS would end by 2025, with the Inherent Resolve mission expected to conclude by the end of 2026.

While the U.S. mission has pushed ISIS away from controlling significant territory, the group has not been eliminated. In December 2025, the U.S. Central Command said two U.S. soldiers and a translator were killed in an ISIS attack. The United States responded with airstrikes.

Militia Attacks Highlight Ongoing Risks

The Pentagon has also pointed to the threat posed by Iranian-backed militias operating inside Iraq. It said militias affiliated with Iran launched more than 600 attacks against U.S. citizens and facilities between February and April 2026.

Pentagon records said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth discussed the issue at a meeting in July with Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi. The talks covered the shift from the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS to a bilateral relationship, and included a commitment by Hegseth to end Inherent Resolve by 30 September.

Al-Zaidi has said Iraq would disarm Iranian-backed militias. He told The New York Times that the groups are expected to be disbanded by June 2027, after an initial deadline of September 2026.

Iraqi Responsibility For Remaining Threats

Parnell said that the Government of Iraq now has the primary responsibility for dealing with remaining security challenges, including ISIS remnants and militias aligned with Iran that he said undermine Iraqi sovereignty and regional stability.

He said the U.S. military would continue to provide targeted training and intelligence support to Iraqi partners, while continuing counterterrorism cooperation to ensure ISIS “can never reconstitute from Iraqi territory.”

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30 September 2026