According to a report from the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, the last group of American military advisors left the Ain al-Asad airbase in Anbar province on January 18. This base had been under U.S. control for more than two decades. As part of the coalition led by Washington, cooperation was carried out in the fight against the terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS), and military facilities, including the headquarters of the Combined Joint Task Force, were handed over to Iraqi security forces. American troops still remain at Al-Harir airbase, located in Erbil province. This region, which has autonomous rights, has its own governing bodies and security forces, and the central government of Iraq exercises only limited control over it. Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the number of American troops has undergone significant changes. At its peak, their number reached 170,000. They were withdrawn in 2011, but in 2014 about 5,000 servicemen returned at Baghdad's request to combat terrorist threats. As of December 2021, after the completion of the combat mission, about 2,500 American servicemen remained in Iraq performing advisory roles. In 2023, Iraqi authorities began active measures for the final withdrawal of the remaining troops.
