Shafaq News- Al-Sulaymaniyah
The Global Coalition, led by US forces, will complete a full withdrawal from Iraqi territory by the end of this month, former Peshmerga Ministry Secretary-General and security expert Jabbar Yawar told Shafaq News on Monday.
Yawar said the withdrawal has been carried out in two phases since September 2025. The first phase saw multinational coalition forces, led by the United States, withdraw from central and southern Iraq, while the remaining withdrawal is set to be completed by September 30, 2026.
He explained that the Coalition had requested to keep part of its forces in Iraq during the first phase to support operations related to Syria, citing concerns at the time over the movement of extremist groups toward the region.
According to Yawar, the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime and the resulting change in Damascus shifted the regional security calculus. “The new Syrian leadership has built relations with the United States and several Western countries, which, in Washington's assessment, eased concerns over border security and the movement of extremist groups.”
Yawar added that these developments led the Coalition to conclude there was no longer a need to maintain forces in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) for purposes tied to protecting Syria or countering threats from that period.
Advisors to Remain After Troop Withdrawal
Yawar clarified that the withdrawal agreement applies to military forces but does not end the presence of military advisors, who will continue their work under diplomatic frameworks at embassies and consulates.
He said one or more advisors are expected to remain at the US embassy in Baghdad and the US consulate in Erbil, alongside military advisors from other coalition countries, such as France and Germany, operating within their respective embassies and consulates.
“The end of the coalition's military presence does not mean the United States is disengaging from Iraq or the KRI,” Yawar stressed, noting that Washington maintains extensive strategic interests in the Middle East, along with bases and interests across the region. “The US presence and influence will continue, though not necessarily in the form of the current military deployment.”
Support for Al-Zaidi's Disarmament Plan
On Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's ability to carry out his plan of bringing weapons under state control, Yawar said al-Zaidi has public and political backing from the Coordination Framework (a coalition of predominantly Shiite parties) and the State Administration Coalition, as well as support from KRI President Nechirvan Barzani, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani, and Kurdish political parties.
He added that al-Zaidi also has international backing from major powers for his efforts to bring weapons under state control, saying that leveraging both domestic and international support would help him implement his government program more quickly and at lower cost.
Yawar warned that continued threats by some armed factions against US interests in the region could provoke a strong American response, recalling past attacks on US positions and bases in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, which were followed by US strikes on sites and interests linked to those factions.
September 30, 2026, marks the deadline for ending the coalition's military presence in Iraq, a date some armed factions have used to link the future of their weapons to the withdrawal of foreign forces.