ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani on Thursday received Kevin Leahy, commander of the US-led global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS), discussing security cooperation and joint efforts in combating the militant group.

Sudani was briefed on a “detailed overview from the Coalition Commander of the overall security situation and the movements of ISIS,” according to a statement by the prime minister's office.

The pair also discussed “developing cooperation between Iraq and the member states of the Coalition,” including in the fields of training and exchanging expertise and information with the Iraqi forces.

The meeting came days after the Iraqi premier said that the coalition forces were operating “solely at an advisory capacity” in Iraq during the Sulaimani Forum.

Sudani noted that Iraq's security is currently at its best in years, despite the recurrence of hit-and-run operations across many provinces in the country by sleeper cells of ISIS.

The Iraqi government, however, has repeatedly claimed that ISIS no longer poses a threat to the country’s national security after the group was territorially defeated in 2017, and has been calling for the end of the coalition’s mission.

Iraq and the US in September 2024 announced they had reached an agreement to wrap up the US-led coalition’s military presence in the country by “no later than the end of September 2025” and transition to bilateral security partnerships “in a manner that supports Iraqi forces and maintains pressure on ISIS.”

The US has approximately 2,400 military personnel deployed in Iraq. US forces were deployed to Iraq at the request of the Iraqi government in 2014 to fight ISIS, which had then overrun large swathes of Iraqi territory in the north and west of the country.