RAF Tornado GR4 aircraft over Iraq during the 2014 air campaign against Islamic State.

Two RAF Tornado GR4s over Iraq in September 2014, at the start of Britain's air campaign against Islamic State. This is a file photograph from the 2014 mission, not the withdrawal. (UK Ministry of Defence, via Wikimedia Commons, Open Government Licence.)

Last British Troops Leave Iraq as Decade-Long Anti-IS Mission Ends

The last British troops have left Iraq, closing a chapter that began when Islamic State swept across the country in 2014. Around 100 UK personnel withdrew from Irbil in the northern Kurdistan region on Wednesday, departing alongside their American counterparts as the US-led coalition formally ended its military mission in Iraq.

The withdrawal marks the end of more than a decade of British military presence in Iraq and of the mission known as Operation Inherent Resolve. Iraq has declared a series of national "Sovereignty Days" to mark the departure.

Key facts

Around 100 remaining British personnel left Irbil on 30 September 2026, with their exit coordinated over recent weeks with US forces
The withdrawal follows a 2024 agreement between the US and the Iraqi government to end the coalition's military mission by the end of this month
British and American forces have been in Iraq since 2014 as part of the international coalition formed to defeat Islamic State
The Ministry of Defence says UK personnel trained more than 111,000 members of the Iraqi Security Forces, including more than 21,000 Kurdish Peshmerga
The RAF flew thousands of sorties and struck more than 2,300 Islamic State targets; it will continue flying missions over neighbouring Syria
The coalition's joint task force remains operational and has moved its headquarters to Jordan

An orderly departure

Unlike the chaotic evacuation from Kabul in 2021, the end of the Iraq mission has been a planned and orderly handover. British forces had gradually wound down their presence from bases across the country, leaving only the remaining contingent at Irbil air base. Their departure was timed with the final American withdrawal from the same base.

The timetable was set two years ago, when Washington and Baghdad agreed to end the coalition mission by the end of September 2026. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said the end of the mission marked "Iraq's transition to a phase in which it assumes full responsibility for its security and stability".

What the mission achieved

The Ministry of Defence paid tribute to the British personnel who served in the counter-IS campaign, saying they had provided "valuable support, training and assistance" to more than 111,000 members of the Iraqi Security Forces, including more than 21,000 Peshmerga in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

The air campaign was the most visible part of Britain's contribution. The RAF conducted thousands of sorties over Iraq and Syria, striking more than 2,300 Islamic State targets. The MoD confirmed the RAF is expected to continue flying missions over Syria to prevent the group's remnants gaining a foothold.

That continuing role matters. A recent United Nations report estimated that sustained pressure had left Islamic State in Iraq with several hundred fighters able to carry out unsophisticated attacks. In Syria, where the UN estimates the group still has up to 3,000 fighters, the coalition's mission against the group goes on.

Official statements

The Ministry of Defence said: "Following more than a decade of operations, training and capacity building, Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and the Kurdish Peshmerga have secured the enduring territorial defeat of Daesh in Iraq and are now well placed to take primary responsibility for the country's security. With these objectives achieved, Iraq and its international partners can begin a new chapter focused on enduring security co-operation under Iraqi leadership."

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell described the departure from Irbil as "the successful conclusion of the military mission that defeated [IS] in Iraq". He added: "The primary responsibility for addressing Iraq's remaining security challenges, including [IS] remnants and Iran-aligned militias that undermine Iraqi sovereignty and regional stability, now rests with the government of Iraq."

Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander of US Central Command who oversaw the withdrawal, said: "As we step back and hand full primary responsibility for Iraq's security to the government of Iraq and the brave people of Iraq, the US and coalition forces stationed across the region will remain ready to respond to any Isis threats that arise."

A dangerous final year

The last months of the mission were far from quiet. Since the start of the war between the US, Israel and Iran earlier this year, Iranian-backed militias targeted the remaining US and British forces at Irbil air base. At the height of the American bombing campaign against Iran, the coalition base was being attacked by up to 28 drones and missiles a day.

RAF Regiment gunners were among the last British personnel at the base. They shot down more than 100 drones in the first six weeks of the war, many of them launched by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. In April, a BBC team visiting the base had to circle it in an RAF transport aircraft while drones were being launched nearby.

Hundreds of NATO troops stationed in Baghdad left the country in March as tensions rose, narrowing the coalition footprint to the Kurdistan region for the final months.

What comes next

Iraq's government frames the withdrawal as the restoration of full sovereignty. Baghdad has declared national "Sovereignty Days" to celebrate the departure, and al-Zaidi has said he wants to move the relationship with Washington from military cooperation to economic and development partnership.

The harder question is what fills the gap. The prime minister has vowed to disarm the powerful Iranian-backed militias and bring all weapons under state control now the coalition has gone, but several factions have resisted and could see their influence grow without an American presence to counterbalance them.

For Britain, the end of the Iraq mission does not mean the end of involvement in the region. The RAF will keep flying over Syria, and the Pentagon has said the United States will continue to provide "targeted training and intelligence support" to Iraqi partners. The coalition's joint task force continues from its new headquarters in Jordan.

Britain's third withdrawal from Iraq

This is the third time in a generation that British forces have pulled out of Iraq. Tens of thousands of British troops deployed in 1991 after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. They returned in 2003 for the invasion that toppled Saddam, and the fierce sectarian insurgency that followed killed nearly 4,500 American personnel and 179 British personnel. British and American forces left in 2011, only to return three years later as Islamic State seized huge areas of Iraq and Syria.

Twelve years on, the territorial caliphate is gone. Whether the quiet departure from Irbil proves to be the end of Britain's military entanglement in Iraq, or merely the latest pause, will depend on what Iraq's government can do on its own.

Sources

BBC News, "Last UK and US troops leave Iraq as anti-Islamic State mission ends", Jonathan Beale, 30 September 2026
UK Ministry of Defence statement on the end of the counter-Daesh mission in Iraq, 30 September 2026 (as reported by the BBC)
US Department of Defense / US Central Command statements on the conclusion of Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq, 30 September 2026
The Times, "As last US troops leave Iraq, who is the real winner?", 30 September 2026
Statement of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on the withdrawal, 30 September 2026

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