ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The US-led international coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) is set to leave the Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq’s western Anbar province “next week,” the Iraqi army announced on Wednesday. 

“The international coalition will depart Ain al-Asad base next week and hand it over to the Iraqi sectors,” the Iraqi army’s Joint Operations Command said in a statement. 

The development comes as the US-led coalition winds down its presence in Iraq. Washington and Baghdad in September 2024 announced that 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.” 

In early October, the US Defense Department described the reduction of American troop presence in Iraq as a reflection of their “combined success” with Iraqi forces in fighting ISIS.

US forces are set to remain in the Kurdistan Region until September 2026, according to the agreement. Peshmerga forces that significantly contributed to defeating ISIS have been receiving military support from multiple countries that are members of the US-led coalition.

In August, A US defense official told The New Region that Washington remains "committed to end the Coalition’s military mission inside of Iraq by September 2025 and will continue to support counter-ISIS operations in Syria from bases in Iraq through September 2026." 

"After transition, the United States will continue a bilateral security cooperation relationship with Iraq," the official added.

Approximately 2,400 American military personnel are deployed in Iraq, at the request of the Iraqi government to support the fight against ISIS.