US Forces on track to complete Iraq pullout

The US military is on track to pull all of its forces out of Iraq by the end of September.

The withdrawal will mark the end of a 23-year US military presence in Iraq that started with the 2003 invasion against Saddam Hussein and ended with much smaller operations against the Islamic State group.

After a meeting with Admral Brad Cooper, who leads the US Central Command, Iraqi Prime Minister Aki al-Zaidi says he had reaffirmed September 30th as the fixed and final date for concluding the international coalition's military mission in Iraq.

Washington and Baghdad agreed in 2024 to wind down the US-led coalition fighting IS, with US forces departing bases where they had been stationed.

US troops already pulled out of bases in most areas of Iraq last year, but had maintained a presence in the semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region. Bases there have regularly come under attack since the US and Israel launched war on Iran on February 28th.