‘We are vulnerable’: Kurds fear renewed attacks as US‑led coalition departs Iraq
‘We are vulnerable’: Kurds fear renewed attacks as US‑led coalition departs Iraq Submitted by Wladimir van Wilgenburg on Thu, 10/01/2026 - 11:02 As Washington ends its decade‑long mission in Iraq, Kurds warn autonomous region is at risk amid US-Iran tensions Kurdish Peshmerga fighters about 60km south of Erbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, on 30 September 2026 (Safin Hamid/AFP)…
The US-led coalition, which had been present in Iraq since 2014 to combat the Islamic State group, officially ended its mission in Iraq on 30 September 2026. This withdrawal comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and Iran, with the Iraqi Kurdistan Region feeling particularly vulnerable to renewed attacks. Since the coalition's departure, Koya, a city south of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region, has been hit by Iranian drones twice in just three days.
The Iraqi Kurdistan region has endured over a thousand drone and ballistic missile attacks since the war on Iran began in February, according to the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs. Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has expressed concern over the lack of a defense system left behind by the coalition, stating that "the threat is real – we are vulnerable, we are being attacked."
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