The United States will withdraw all troops from Iraq by September 30, according to a Wednesday statement from Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s office. The statement said operations by the global coalition against Islamic State are nearing an end and that all foreign forces will leave Iraq by the deadline. It described the date as final and said no foreign troops would remain in Iraq from October 1.
The timetable was set after Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi met General Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command. The two had also met during the Iraqi prime minister’s visit to Washington in mid-July. Iraq’s statement said the post-withdrawal relationship would respect both countries’ sovereignty and bilateral interests, with attention to strengthening cooperation in economic and security sectors.
US military involvement in Iraq began in 2003 with the operation to remove Saddam Hussein. Washington later continued military operations following the rise of Islamic State. A Pentagon official told the Associated Press that the United States, Iraq and coalition partners had achieved “extraordinary success” against IS, and said Iraqi forces are now sufficiently capable of confronting terrorist groups. The official did not disclose the current number of US troops in Iraq.