The last troops of the coalition fighting against the Islamic State organization led by the United States left Iraq on Wednesday, after twelve years of presence. This withdrawal revives the question of disarmament of pro-Iranian factions, several groups of which still refuse to give up their arms.

Published on: 09/30/2026 - 02:34 Modified on: 09/30/2026 - 1:59 p.m.

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Deployed for twelve years in Iraq, the anti-jihadist coalition led by the United States completed its mission on Wednesday, September 30, after having rid the country of jihadists but leaving it prey to internal tensions.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi welcomed the start of a "new era" for the country, "marked by the sovereignty of Iraq, the solidity of its institutions (...) and balanced partnerships with its friends", he declared during the ceremony marking the official end of the mission led by the United States.

Coalition forces were deployed to Iraq and Syria in 2014 to fight the Islamic State (IS) group, which had seized large swathes of territory in both countries and committed atrocities there.

After the victory over ISIS in 2017 in Iraq - and in 2019 in Syria - international forces remained behind to fight the last elements of the group. Baghdad and Washington decided in 2024 to end this mission.

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The coalition, which left Syria earlier this year, began its withdrawal from Iraq in 2025, limiting its presence to the airport in Erbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq.

“Sovereignty Day” in Iraq

The Iraqi Prime Minister called for October 1 to be celebrated as “Sovereignty Day”. Coming to power in the spring, Ali al-Zaïdi pledged, under pressure from Washington, to obtain the disarmament of the pro-Iranian factions who have been attacking American forces in the country for years. His government had initially set September 30, the day the coalition mission ended, as the deadline for the disarmament of these groups, believing that the withdrawal of the coalition would deprive them of any pretext to keep their weapons.

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But this date has been postponed, as negotiations to “regulate” weapons are still underway. If factions have announced the integration of their armed brigades into state institutions, several influential armed groups have in fact refused to give up their arms. These groups had set the departure of international troops as a condition for their disarmament, but also the end of all American influence, both political and economic.

In Erbil, worried Kurds

The powerful Kataeb Hezbollah group declared on Monday that the withdrawal of "occupation forces (...) was a first step towards obtaining full sovereignty". But he warned the Iraqi government, supported by Washington: "a government that does not work for the good of its people will be overthrown by any means possible."

For years, coalition forces and Tehran-backed factions fought the same enemy: ISIS. But after the defeat of the jihadist group, the presence of coalition troops became a huge source of tension between Iraqi authorities and pro-Iranian armed groups. The latter demanded their withdrawal, before targeting them, provoking American retaliatory strikes, which killed several of their leaders over the years.

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During the Middle East war, sparked in February by an Israeli-US offensive in Iran, the factions have intensified their attacks, mainly targeting coalition troops based in Kurdistan. In Erbil, Kurds expressed concern, wondering who will protect them against drones that have repeatedly targeted their autonomous region.

With AFP

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