Iraqi officials confirmed on Saturday that the country’s army has now assumed complete control of the strategic facility.

The pullout forms part of a 2024 bilateral agreement between Washington and Baghdad.

That deal outlined a phased wind-down of the US-led military coalition in Iraq, with a target completion date of September 2025.

Under the accord, American troops were scheduled to leave bases purportedly used for operations against the Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorist group.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani had earlier stated that the original timeline required a full US departure from Ain al-Asad by September 2025.

The United States later postponed the complete withdrawal, pointing to developments in neighboring Syria.

Iraqi Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah visited the base on Saturday.

He oversaw the transfer of duties and responsibilities to Iraqi military units.

In an official statement, the Iraqi military reported that Yarallah directed commanders to strengthen coordination among units at the facility.

He also instructed them to make full use of the base’s capabilities and strategic position.

A senior Iraqi defense ministry official, speaking anonymously, told The Washington Post that US forces had entirely vacated the site and removed all American equipment.

No immediate comment was issued by the US military.

The handover came after prior statements from Iraqi commanders declaring the end of the US-led coalition’s mission at Ain al-Asad.

In late December, Deputy Commander of Iraq’s Joint Operations Command Lt. Gen. Qais al-Muhammadawi announced that coalition forces would withdraw from the base.

He added that control would be transferred to Iraqi security forces and that the process had been coordinated through the Joint Operations Command.

The US-led coalition entered Iraq in 2014 alongside numerous allies, citing the fight against Daesh as its primary objective.

Subsequent US-led military operations included extensive airstrikes on multiple Iraqi cities.

Those campaigns drew widespread criticism for their scale, indiscriminate impact, and the widespread destruction they caused.

Questions also arose over their effectiveness, as Daesh continued to carry out attacks and maintain a presence in parts of the country.

The group emerged amid the prolonged instability that followed the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.

That invasion triggered a sharp rise in anti-American sentiment across the nation.

After 2014, US military assets in Iraq — including troops at Ain al-Asad — became frequent targets of rocket attacks.

In early 2020, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps launched a ballistic missile strike on the base. The attack came in retaliation for the US assassination of senior Iranian commander Lt. General Qassem Soleimani.

General Soleimani had played a key role in supporting Iraqi and Syrian efforts that helped defeat Daesh three years earlier.