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BAGHDAD: The US military has begun drawing down its mission in Iraq under an agreement inked with the Iraqi government last year, officials said Wednesday.
Washington and Baghdad agreed last year to wind down the military mission in Iraq of an American-led coalition fighting the Daesh group by September 2025, with US forces departing some bases where they have stationed troops during a two-decade-long military presence in the country.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Wednesday that the US “will reduce its military mission in Iraq,” reflecting “our combined success in fighting Daesh.”
The move “marks an effort to transition to a lasting US-Iraq security partnership in accordance with US national interests, the Iraqi Constitution, and the US-Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement,” he said.
The statement added that Washington will maintain close coordination with Baghdad and coalition partners to ensure a “responsible transition.”
It did not give details on the number of troops that have withdrawn to date or when the drawdown would be completed.
A senior Iraqi security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said the US withdrawal began weeks ago from Baghdad and from Ain Al-Asad base in western Iraq.
“Only a very small number of advisers remain within the Joint Operations Command,” the official said.
He added that some forces have redeployed to the city of Irbil in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, while others have left the country entirely, and that there is no accurate count of those who have withdrawn yet.
The official said the drawdown is proceeding according to agreed-upon schedules.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani told The Associated Press in an interview in July that the US and Iraq will meet by the end of the year to “arrange the bilateral security relationship” between the two countries.

DOHA: Hamas officials want amendments to clauses on disarmament in US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, a Palestinian source close to the group’s leadership told AFP on Wednesday.
Hamas negotiators held discussions Tuesday with Turkish, Egyptian and Qatari officials in Doha, the source said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters and adding the group needed “two or three days at most” to respond.
Trump’s plan, backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages by Hamas within 72 hours, the group’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
But the Palestinian source said: “Hamas wants to amend some of the clauses such as the one on disarmament and the expulsion of Hamas and faction cadres.”
Hamas leaders also want “international guarantees for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip” and guarantees of no assassinations inside or outside the territory.
Six people were killed in an Israeli attack on Hamas officials meeting in Doha to discuss an earlier ceasefire proposal last month.
The source said Hamas was also in touch with “other regional and Arab parties,” without giving details.
Another source familiar with the negotiations told AFP that the Palestinian group was split over Trump’s plan.
“So far there are two views within Hamas: the first supports unconditional approval because the important thing is to have a ceasefire guaranteed by Trump, provided that the mediators guarantee Israel’s implementation of the plan,” the source said, also requesting anonymity for the same reasons.
But others have “great reservations on important clauses,” the source added.
“They reject disarmament and for any Palestinian citizen to be taken away from Gaza,” the source said.
“They support a conditional agreement with clarifications that take into account demands by Hamas and the resistance factions so that the occupation of the Gaza Strip is not legitimized while the resistance is criminalized,” they added.
“Some factions reject the plan, but discussions are ongoing and things will become clearer soon.”