U.S. Central Command announced Wednesday that the last American troops had left the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Erbil, closing out the U.S.-led Operation Inherent Resolve against ISIS in Iraq, as Washington shifts toward a bilateral defense relationship with Baghdad.
U.S. forces had previously withdrawn from Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar province, and other bases across Iraq that had housed most of the roughly 1,500 U.S. and coalition personnel.
With the coalition’s departure, the Kurdistan Region is losing what Kurdish officials regard as a critical strategic capability: the U.S. air-defense network that intercepted most of the drones and missiles launched at the region by Iran and Iran-backed Iraqi groups since the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran broke out in February.
Iran and allied Iraqi groups have previously targeted the Kurdistan Region, citing the presence of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups as well as U.S. military bases and facilities as grounds for attack.
The U.S. withdrawal on Sept. 30 was meant to coincide with the disarmament of Iran-backed groups in Iraq, but most ignored or defied calls to give up their weapons. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said the deadline for disarming had been extended until June 2027.
Chiman Babakr Barzani, a member of the Iraqi Parliament’s Security and Defense Committee, told MBN that weapons remain in the hands of some armed factions operating outside the control of the Iraqi state, which have carried out numerous attacks on the Kurdistan Region in the past.
She said the departure of U.S. and coalition forces at this “sensitive time” posed serious threats due to security gaps in disputed areas between the semi-autonomous region and Baghdad.
According to Reuters, Kurdish commander Sirwan Barzani said the loss of U.S. intelligence, logistical support and drone capabilities would give ISIS militants an opportunity to regroup.
“For more than two weeks, we have been monitoring movements by Islamic State sleeper cells,” he said, following media reports that the international coalition would officially withdraw from Iraq by the end of September.
Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, however, sought to reassure residents of the region after U.S. withdrawal, saying there was “very good coordination” with Iraq’s federal government to confront any threats or risks, whether they came under the banner of ISIS or any other.
Before the fall if its “caliphate” in 2017, ISIS, which the United States designates as a terrorist organization, seized large swaths of Iraq and Syria in 2014 and committed widespread abuses, including the killing of thousands of civilians and the enslavement of hundreds of Yazidis in northwestern Iraq.
Representatives of the Kurdistan Regional Government held several meetings with the Iraqi government to ensure that the region would be incorporated into and protected by Iraq’s national defense system. Baghdad has formally signed agreements with Turkey and France to purchase advanced air-defense systems, but those systems have not yet been delivered.
Aqeel Abbas, a nonresident fellow with the Iraq Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs, said the U.S. withdrawal would leave the Kurds exposed to attacks by Iran and its allied militias in Iraq.
According to official statistics released in September 2026 by the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs, the region had come under more than 1,000 drone and ballistic-missile attacks since late February. Some struck civilian areas, causing deaths and injuries as well as property damage.
Although the ministry said in a statement that U.S. withdrawal under current regional circumstances was a source of concern, officials expressed confidence that protecting the Kurdish Region’s airspace, as part of Iraqi airspace, was among the Iraqi government’s highest priorities.
Ghayath Surji, a senior official with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, told MBN that the Kurdistan Region has neither legal authority nor capacity to independently purchase or operate an air-defense system or advanced weapons, without coordinating with the Iraqi government.
As a result, Kurdish officials are looking to Baghdad to assume greater responsibility for the region’s security and defense, following the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.
Dindar Zebari, coordinator for international recommendations in the Kurdistan Regional Government, said the post-withdrawal period should be based on institutional coordination between federal authorities and Kurdistan Region institutions, particularly on security matters.
Zebari told MBN that the Kurdistan Region’s constitutional status derives from the Iraqi Constitution, not presence or support of any foreign power.
Ahead of the U.S. withdrawal, the Kurdistan Region moved to reorganize its security forces and announced the unification of Kurdish forces under the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs. Most of the forces had previously been divided between two main formations, one affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the other with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the two main parties in Iraqi Kurdistan.
James Jeffrey, a former ambassador to Iraq and distinguished fellow at The Washington Institute, told MBN that the Kurds had relied on the U.S. presence both for military support and as a psychological signal of Washington’s commitment to the Kurdistan Region. Now, “that presence is gone.”
Adapted and translated from the original Arabic.
