ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Italian military has completed its withdrawal from Iraq as part of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS), Defense Minister Guido Crosetto announced on Tuesday, ahead of a deadline for all coalition troops to depart. 

In a statement, Crosetto said that the last Italian soldiers in Iraq have returned, calling it the beginning of a “different phase, agreed upon with the Iraqi authorities and partner countries, which requires Iraqi security forces to assume full responsibility.”

“This concludes a 12-year commitment, during which thousands of our soldiers have served in Iraq,” the minister said. 

Two personnel of the Italian Carabinieri, the country’s military police, will remain in Iraq as part of the European Union’s mission in the country, Crosetto added. 

The US-led coalition is scheduled to complete its withdrawal from all Iraqi territory by September 30 under an agreement between Baghdad and Washington. The withdrawal comes after years of cooperation between the coalition and Iraqi and Kurdistan Region forces in the fight against ISIS.

The coalition was brought to Iraq in 2014 at Baghdad’s invitation to help repel the ISIS advance across the country.

Prior to the withdrawal, Italy had 300 troops stationed in the Kurdistan Region’s capital Erbil to train Kurdish Peshmerga forces, according to the defense ministry.