2,500 US troops expected to remain in Iraq despite end of US combat mission

WASHINGTON — About 2,500 U.S. troops will remain in Iraq despite Thursday’s formal end of the U.S. combat mission there, chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

The U.S. and Iraq on Thursday announced the combat mission’s end following the final meeting of its military-technical coalition, which was tasked with discussing and implementing an agreement in July by both nations to transition the U.S. military’s role in Iraq.

The agreement reached by President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi included that the U.S. would remove all its troops with a combat role from Iraq by the year’s end. At the time, there were about 2,500 troops in Iraq targeting the Islamic State terrorist group.

Kirby on Thursday said the number of U.S. troops in Iraq won’t change, but it could in the future.