US-led coalition ends combat mission in Iraq after two decades

The US-led coalition's combat mission in Iraq ended on Tuesday under the terms of a 2024 US-Iraq agreement, closing more than two decades of American military presence that began with the 2003 invasion and continued through the campaign against the Islamic State group after 2014, at a total cost of more than 4,500 American lives. Iraq's government marked the withdrawal with three days of public holidays under the banner of restored sovereignty, but Kurdish and Sunni leaders warned it is premature: the disarmament of Iran-aligned militias has been pushed back to June 2027, and some armed groups still refuse to disarm.

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