US completes withdrawal from al-Asad airbase, Iraq says

The United States has quietly completed its withdrawal from al-Asad air base in Iraq’s Anbar Province , the Iraq Defense Ministry said Saturday, bringing to a close more than two decades of American military presence in the western part of the country.

Iraqi Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah oversaw the transfer of responsibilities at the base, according to the Defense Ministry.

U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the handover.

The drawdown follows an agreement reached in September 2024 between Washington and Baghdad to shutter the U.S.-led military coalition that had long served as a bulwark against the Islamic State.

The two sides initially set a target for completion by the end of September 2025, but a small contingent of roughly 250 to 350 American military advisers remained at the base in response to developments in neighboring Syria.

Actor Chuck Norris visits Marines at al-Asad in 2007. (Sgt. Sheila Brooks/U.S. Marine Corps)

President Donald Trump and his Syrian counterpart, Ahmed al-Sharaa, held a phone call on Monday to discuss “developments in the situation in Syria” and affirmed “support for its unity and the fight against terrorism,” Damascus said in a post on X . The two leaders also agreed to continue cooperation to combat ISIS.

CENTCOM underscored its collaboration with Syria in its ongoing campaign against the Islamic State.

“We welcome ongoing efforts by all parties in Syria to prevent escalation and pursue resolution through dialogue,” CENTCOM head Adm. Brad Cooper said in a statement on Saturday. “Aggressively pursuing ISIS and relentlessly applying military pressure requires teamwork among Syrian partners in coordination with U.S. and coalition forces.

“A Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors is essential to peace and stability across the region.”

The U.S. — alongside partner forces — has over the past month conducted a series of “large-scale” strikes against ISIS targets throughout Syria as part of “Operation Hawkeye State.”

Defense Pete Hegseth said the operation was launched as a “declaration of vengeance” in direct response to the deadly ISIS attack on two American soldiers and one U.S. civilian interpreter in Palmyra on Dec. 13.

U.S. troop levels in Iraq reached a peak of about 169,000 in August 2007, a Government Accountability Office report stated. Since the end of the American combat mission in the country in December 2021, approximately 2,500 U.S. forces were stationed in different installations across Iraq.

Tanya Noury is a reporter for Military Times and Defense News, with coverage focusing on the White House and Pentagon.

伊拉克国防部周六表示，美国已悄然完成从伊拉克安巴尔省阿萨德空军基地的撤军，结束了美国在该国西部长达二十多年的军事存在。

据国防部称，伊拉克陆军参谋长阿卜杜勒·阿米尔·拉希德·亚拉拉中将监督了该基地的职责交接。

美国中央司令部尚未就此次交接事宜作出回应。

此次撤军是根据华盛顿和巴格达在 2024 年 9 月达成的协议进行的，该协议旨在解散长期以来作为打击伊斯兰国堡垒的美国领导的军事联盟。

双方最初设定了在 2025 年 9 月底完成的目标，但由于邻国叙利亚局势的发展，大约 250 至 350 名美国军事顾问仍留在该基地。

2007年，演员查克·诺里斯访问了驻扎在阿萨德空军基地的海军陆战队员。（美国海军陆战队中士希拉·布鲁克斯摄）

据大马士革官方媒体X报道，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普与叙利亚总统艾哈迈德·沙拉周一通电话，讨论了“叙利亚局势的最新进展”，并重申“支持叙利亚的团结和打击恐怖主义”。两位领导人还同意继续合作打击“伊斯兰国”。

美国中央司令部强调了其与叙利亚在打击伊斯兰国的持续行动中的合作。

美国中央司令部司令布拉德·库珀海军上将周六在一份声明中表示：“我们欢迎叙利亚各方为防止局势升级、寻求通过对话解决问题而做出的持续努力。积极打击伊斯兰国并持续施加军事压力，需要叙利亚伙伴与美国和联军部队协调合作。”

“一个与自身及其邻国和平相处的叙利亚，对于整个地区的和平与稳定至关重要。”

过去一个月，美国及其盟友对叙利亚境内的ISIS目标进行了一系列“大规模”打击，这是“鹰眼国行动”的一部分。

国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯表示，此次行动是“复仇宣言”，直接回应了 12 月 13 日 ISIS 在帕尔米拉对两名美国士兵和一名美国平民翻译发动的致命袭击。

美国政府问责局的一份报告指出，2007年8月，驻伊美军人数达到约16.9万人的峰值。自2021年12月美国结束在伊拉克的作战任务以来，约有2500名美军士兵驻扎在伊拉克各地的不同设施中。

Tanya Noury 是《军事时报》和《防务新闻》的记者，她的报道主要集中在白宫和五角大楼。