Last US troops expected to leave Iraq on Wednesday following 12-year fight against ISIS
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The U.S. military is expected to complete the total withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq on Wednesday after a 12-year presence prompted by the war against the Islamic State militant group ISIS.
It will be the second time that the U.S. has withdrawn all of its military forces from Iraq.
In 2011, the U.S. pulled out after an eight-year presence that began with the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. U.S. troops returned in 2014 as ISIS conquered wide swaths of Syria and northern Iraq and threatened the approaches to Baghdad. The U.S. defeated ISIS militarily in 2019, but the continued U.S. presence was seen as a necessary one to prevent a resurgence of ISIS.
The withdrawal was negotiated with Iraq by the Biden administration in 2024, and the Trump administration has continued with the withdrawal plan that set Sept. 30 as the final pullout date. But the U.S. war with Iran has created a different regional situation for Iraq and the United States than when the deal was agreed upon.
Iraq and Iran have a shared Shiite cultural heritage and Iran has militarily assisted Shiite-militias inside Iraq. It remains a question how far Iran will be able to increase its presence and influence in Iraq and whether ISIS could become resurgent.
In recent years, there had been about 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq.
Throughout this year, the U.S. has been consolidating its positions throughout the country into northern Iraq, but has quietly been moving forces out of Erbil since the start of the war with Iran. In recent months the reduction of forces proceeded along and there has been a very small U.S. presence in northern Iraq for quite some time.
Earlier this year the U.S. withdrew its forces from eastern Syria. That was an unplanned withdrawal spurred by the new Syrian government’s push against the United States’ Syrian Kurdish partners.
With Wednesday’s expected withdrawal, the U.S. will once again end a military presence inside of Iraq that has stretched for more than two decades and was the scene of approximately 4,500 U.S. military deaths, the vast majority occurring between 2003-2011.
China’s national flag flutters in the wind next to the CITIC tower on May 12, 2026 in Beijing, China. (Maxim Shemetov Pool/Getty Images)
(BEIJING) — A small aircraft crashed into Beijing’s tallest skyscraper before falling down in front of the building, according to eyewitnesses who spoke with Reuters and the Associated Press.
Videos taken by people near the Citic Tower appeared to show the plane striking a high floor before it spun downward and crashed to the ground in front of the tower’s entrance.
Photos showed what appeared to be a hole or broken glass on one side of the building.
Authorities have yet to address the incident. Videos, images and search results of the crash are actively being scrubbed from the Chinese internet.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
The Colosseum in Rome, Italy photographed on September 10, 2026. (Photo by Alberto Lingria/Xinhua via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — A technician working on a rope inside Rome’s Colosseum fell to their death on Tuesday night, officials said.
Italy’s Ministry of Culture named the technician as Andrea Moretti, describing them as “a skilled high-altitude rope access worker.”
Moretti died inside the ancient amphitheater following “a workplace accident,” officials said on social media on Wednesday morning.
ANSA, the semi-official newswire, said the 22-year-old had been installing a new lighting system when they fell about 10 meters, or about 32 feet.
The Colosseum was closed to the public on Wednesday, officials said.
“A tragic event that leaves us shocked and devastated,” Alessandro Giuli, the minister of culture, said in a statement. “The few words we can find are for Andrea, his family, and his loved ones: we offer our deepest, heartfelt condolences to all for the senseless death of a young man dedicated to his work.”
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is seen in this undated photo. (Courtesy of Elyas Abu Safiya)
(WASHINGTON) — Nearly 70 Democratic and independent members of Congress are calling on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to work with the Israeli government to help secure the release of a prominent Palestinian doctor who has been held in custody for more than 500 days.
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a pediatrician and director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, was arrested in December 2024 and has been held by Israeli authorities since. No formal charges have been filed against him, and no trial has been held.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told ABC News earlier this year that Abu Safiya “was apprehended for suspected involvement in terrorist activities, and for holding a rank in the Hamas terror organization.” The doctor, his family and advocates have denied he is a member of Hamas or that he has engaged in terrorist activities. In June, Israel’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Abu Safiya for his release.
Human rights groups have called for the immediate and unconditional release of Abu Safiya amid reports that he has been denied food and proper medical care and has been subjected to abuse. The Israel Prison Service told ABC News earlier this year that the allegations are “false” and said it “rejects allegations of abuse, starvation, or denial of medical treatment.”
The letter, led by Reps. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., and Raul Ruiz, D-Calif. — and first viewed by ABC News — expressed “urgent concern” over Abu Safiya’s physical well-being.
“Given the imminent threats to Dr. Abu Safiya’s life, we urge you to do everything in your power to ensure he receives the necessary medical care,” the letter reads. “We also urge you to advocate for an end to his seemingly indefinite detention during any upcoming engagements with the Israeli government.”
During the first 14 months of the Israel-Hamas war — which began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise terrorist attack in southern Israel — Abu Safiya became one of the most prominent voices in Gaza, speaking out on social media about the strip’s collapsing healthcare system. He documented the struggle to keep his hospital open despite multiple sieges.
“During the war in Gaza, he played a critical role in providing wounded civilians with vital medical care,” the letter reads. “Among his most notable contributions was the construction of a malnutrition unit that treated hundreds of children.”
The letter documents that Abu Safiya continued his work amid his 15-year-old son being killed during the war and suffering an injury to his thigh and back.
Since his arrest, Abu Safiya has been held in five different prisons, according to his attorneys and Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), a non-profit human rights organization representing Abu Safiya in his civil case.
Naji Abbas, director of the prisoners and detainees department at PHRI, told ABC News in June that Abu Safiya has lost 20 kilograms (44 pounds) and was denied access to high blood pressure medication for at least two months until PHRI and his private attorney appealed. During one of the most recent visits in May, Abbas said Abu Safiya told his attorneys he was suffering from scabies, a skin disease.
Abu Safiya’s personal attorney said that during a recent visit, the doctor had fresh bruises and was struggling to remain conscious, according to the human rights organization Amnesty International.
“Nothing obviates any government’s obligation to provide basic medical care and due process to detainees,” the letter reads. “We urge you to engage your Israeli counterparts to end Dr. Abu Safiya’s indefinite and dangerously inhumane detention.”
“Every day Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is detained puts his health and safety in jeopardy,” Dexter told ABC News in a statement. “I spent my career caring for patients, and no physician should be punished for answering the call to care for people in crisis. The reports of Dr. Abu Safiya’s mistreatment and declining health require immediate action. The State Department must urgently make contact with the Israeli government to secure his release and reunite him with his family.”
In a statement to ABC News, Ruiz said he was “concerned” by reports that Abu Safiya has not received adequate care “for his deteriorating and life-threatening health conditions. I am calling on Secretary Rubio to work with the Israeli government to release Dr. Abu Safiya so he can get the urgent medical care that he needs.”
