Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah

Force in Play

Oversaw Al-Asad handover ceremony on January 18, 2026

The United States returned to Iraq in 2014 after ISIS captured Mosul and threatened Baghdad. Twelve years later, American forces completed their withdrawal from federal Iraqi territory on January 17, 2026, with the Iraqi Army assuming full control of Al-Asad Air Base in Anbar province. The facility once housed up to 5,000 coalition troops and survived Iranian missile strikes in 2020. Roughly 2,000 US troops remain in Iraq's Kurdistan region and Syria to continue counter-ISIS operations through at least September 2026.

Updated Jan 19