U.S. Troops Exit Iraq

The U.S. military completed the withdrawal of its remaining troops and equipment from Iraq, formally ending Operation Inherent Resolve there. The last forces left Erbil Air Base in the northern Kurdish region under a prior U.S.-Iraq agreement to wind down the coalition mission. This is the second full U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, after the 2011 exit that followed the 2003 invasion. U.S. forces returned in 2014 after ISIS seized large areas in Iraq and Syria. Iraq now faces scattered ISIS cells and Iran-aligned militias that Baghdad has struggled to disarm. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell called the exit a successful shift, while Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi called it a sovereignty milestone. Training and intelligence support will continue.