Iraqi PM greets new era with exit from the Islamic anti-state coalition

“Ia new chapter, marked by Iraq’s sovereignty, the strength of its institutions and balanced partnerships with its allies,” Ali al-Zaidi said at a ceremony that marked the official end of the US-led mission.

The withdrawal of international troops that fought the terrorist group Islamic State was agreed between Washington and Baghdad in 2024, when a timetable was established for the gradual withdrawal of foreign soldiers from Iraq, which today culminated definitively.

This day was officially declared “Day of Iraqi Sovereignty”.

It is the second time in 15 years that the US forces have withdrawn from the Arab country after leading the 2003 invasion to overthrow dictator Saddam Hussein, who ended with the departure of the troops in 2011.

After this withdrawal, the U.S. troops returned to Iraq in 2014, at the request of the Iraqi Government, to combat the Islamic State, which, at its peak, occupied a third of the territory where it self-proclaimed an “emirate.”.

After announcing the end of the international coalition mission — in which some 30 countries, including Portugal, participated — al-Zaidi stated that “cooperation between forces and friendly nations resulted in a victory over one of the darkest chapters of extremism and the brutality of history”.

The Iraqi Prime Minister also expressed his gratitude to the countries participating in the military mission, which provided air cover to the country’s army, the Kurdish forces and Shia militias who engaged in hand-to-hand combat against the ‘jihadists’ until the territorial defeat of the Islamic State in 2017.

“ The end of the international coalition mission does not mean the end of our fight against terrorism. On the contrary, it marks the transition from Iraq to a phase where it assumes full responsibility for its own security and stability,” he added.

In addition, he said that his government is working to secure the state monopoly on arms, a process that includes disarmament or genuine integration of dozens of militias — some of them pro-Iran — into the Armed Forces.