US pullout in Iraq to trigger ISIL resurgence, Barzani warns
PARIS
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani has warned that the withdrawal of U.S. and international coalition forces from Iraq would inevitably pave the way for a resurgence of the ISIL terrorist organization.
Speaking to France 24 during a visit to France, Barzani cautioned that the coalition’s planned exit by the end of 2025 would trigger serious security challenges.
“If this scenario unfolds, the reemergence of ISIL is unavoidable,” Barzani said.
“Undoubtedly, once U.S. and coalition troops depart, the events of 2012 will be repeated and ISIL will revive.”
His remarks came after a senior adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani confirmed in August that the U.S.-led coalition will withdraw from its headquarters in Baghdad and from the Ain al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq by September 2025.
“The coalition’s presence at its Baghdad headquarters and at Ain al-Asad will officially end in September 2025, ushering in a new phase of security cooperation centered on advisory roles and capacity-building for Iraq’s security forces,” adviser Hussein Alawi told the state-run INA news agency.
He added that the second phase of winding down the coalition’s mission is set for September 2026.
In a report released in August, U.N. counterterrorism experts warned that ISIL continues to exploit instability in Africa and Syria, while also posing a serious threat in Afghanistan, Central Asia and Europe.
ISIL declared a self-proclaimed caliphate across vast territories of Syria and Iraq in 2014. The group was declared militarily defeated in Iraq in 2017 after a three-year campaign that killed tens of thousands and devastated major cities. However, its sleeper cells remain active in both countries and it retains affiliates and sympathizers worldwide.
