The United States finished pulling its troops out of Iraq on September 30, 2026, more than 23 years after its 2003 invasion, according to an editorial in The Hindu. The exit comes during a separate US-Israeli war with Iran that began on February 28, in which Iran-backed groups, including the Popular Mobilisation Forces (an umbrella of Iran-aligned Shia militias in Iraq), have reportedly carried out at least 600 attacks on US military and diplomatic sites in Iraq. The withdrawal leaves a weak Iraqi government alongside powerful militias, and underscores the limits of American influence in the region.