Iraq sounds alarm on terror threat from Syria one day after US troops leave

Iraq is preparing for the possibility that Islamic State fighters could spill across the border from Syria, the country's foreign minister said Thursday.It comes just one day after the U.S.

military formally ended its counter-ISIS mission in Iraq.Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told reporters in Washington, D.C.on Thursday that Baghdad is closely watching recent ISIS activity in neighboring Syria, and warned that fighters crossing into Iraq could once again pose a threat to the country's security."We are worried about ISIS activities inside Syria," Hussein said, adding that Iraqi forces were preparing to confront any movement toward the border.

Still, he stressed that Baghdad believes its military can now handle the terrorist group without the large U.S.-led coalition presence that helped defeat ISIS's self-declared caliphate.ISIS POISED TO EXPLOIT HISTORIC US IRAQ EXIT, TERROR GROUP 'ACTIVELY WAITING IN THE GAPS,' EXPERT WARNSIraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks during a joint press conference in Baghdad, Iraq, on June 28, 2026.(Khalil Dawood/Xinhua via Getty Images)"If they would be capable to cross the border, that would be once again a threat to our security," Hussein said.

"We are preparing ourselves – if there will be any movement from inside Iraq — to fight them and to defeat them."The warning came just after the departure of the final U.S.forces under Operation Inherent Resolve on Wednesday.US FACES ANOTHER MAJOR MIDDLE EAST TROOP WITHDRAWAL, BUT THREAT REMAINSTrump hailed the withdrawal as a victory over ISIS, saying the terrorist group had been "completely decimated.""We came to fight a caliphate, and there is no longer a caliphate, so we are going home," Trump said.

"This day is a victory for the United States, a victory for Iraq, and a decisive victory over ISIS."But Hussein's warning came four days after Syrian authorities said they dismantled an ISIS cell operating across four provinces, arresting four of its leaders and seizing explosives ...