Pentagon: Washington and its partners officially conclude Operation "Resolute Support" in Iraq
Amman2 min read
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The US Department of Defense (Pentagon) announced on Wednesday that the United States and its coalition partners have officially concluded Operation "Resolute Support" in Iraq, following an organized withdrawal of coalition forces and equipment from Erbil Air Base.
The Department said the withdrawal marks the end of the military mission that led to the defeat of the Islamic State in Iraq, noting that Iraqi security forces will take over the ongoing efforts to secure the country and pursue remnants of the organization.
The Pentagon added that the US Department of Defense will continue to provide targeted training and intelligence support to Iraqi partners, as part of ongoing security cooperation between the two sides.
The international coalition led by the United States deployed in Iraq and Syria in 2014 to counter the so-called "Islamic State," after the organization took over large areas of the two countries, before Baghdad declared its military defeat in Iraq in 2017, while the organization lost most of its controlled areas in Syria by 2019.
Despite the end of the organization's control over the territories, the coalition continued its presence to support Iraqi forces in confronting its remaining cells, before the gradual withdrawal process from Iraq began under an agreement between Baghdad and Washington in 2024.
By early 2026, the coalition's presence in Iraq was limited to the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, before completing its withdrawal on Wednesday, thus ending the coalition's military mission in Iraq after about 12 years since its launch.
Iraqi authorities say their security forces are now capable of facing threats from the Islamic State, while Baghdad's relations with coalition countries have transitioned from the framework of the international military mission to bilateral security partnerships.
Over the past years, coalition forces have been subjected to attacks carried out by armed Iraqi factions using drones and missiles, and the US forces responded with strikes targeting the sites of these factions.
