Washington, October 1, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
US President Donald Trump has announced the departure of the last American forces from Iraq, marking the end of the US military mission there more than two decades after the 2003 invasion.
Trump made the announcement at a White House event marking National Hispanic Heritage Month, describing the withdrawal as a major moment for both the United States and Iraq.
“Today I’m pleased to announce that the last American forces are leaving Iraq,” Trump said, adding that the US was taking its equipment with it.
The US Central Command confirmed that American forces and equipment had completed an orderly departure from Erbil Air Base, bringing Operation Inherent Resolve’s military mission in Iraq to an end.
Trump described the US involvement in Iraq as a “quagmire” resulting from what he called poor decision-making and said he had decided against maintaining a permanent American presence.
“We came to fight a caliphate, and there is no longer a caliphate, so we are going home indeed,” he said.
He called the withdrawal a “victory” for both the United States and Iraq and said it represented a decisive defeat of Islamic State’s territorial caliphate.
Trump also praised Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, saying the US was leaving Iraq with a new government in place and that he had supported Zaidi during the country’s election.
The President repeatedly contrasted the Iraq withdrawal with the 2021 US exit from Afghanistan, stressing that commanders had been instructed to remove American equipment from Erbil Air Base.
“I want every screw taken,” Trump said, adding that the US had left with its equipment and had ensured that its temporary military presence did not become permanent.
The US-led invasion of Iraq began in March 2003 and toppled Saddam Hussein’s government. Most US troops left in 2011, but American forces returned in 2014 as part of an international coalition launched against Islamic State after the group captured large parts of Iraq and Syria.
Trump said the US involvement had lasted 23 years and cited more than 4,500 American military deaths and over 31,000 injuries, along with the deaths of hundreds of civilian contractors.
The completion of the withdrawal from Erbil marks the formal end of the US-led anti-Islamic State military mission in Iraq, while US operations against the group continue in other regional contexts.
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