American forces will start departing from Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq and from Baghdad International Airport after the November election, according to Iraqi government officials who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

Those forces will be moved to Hareer base in Erbil, in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region. The move is part of an agreement with the Iraqi government that the U.S. announced Friday.

U.S. officials who briefed reporters Friday said the agreement will bring about a two-phase transition in the troops assigned to Iraq that began this month. In the first phase, which runs through September 2025, the coalition mission against ISIS will end and forces will leave some longstanding bases. U.S. officials did not say how many troops will remain in Iraq or where they will be stationed.

In the second phase, the U.S. will continue to operate in some fashion from Iraq through 2026 to support counter-ISIS operations in Syria, a senior Biden administration official and a senior defense official said on the condition of anonymity on a call with reporters to provide details ahead of the announcement.

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