The last British and American troops have left Iraq after a military presence of more than a decade in the country.
The exit of the remaining UK military personnel – around 100 – from Irbil, in the northern Kurdistan region, was co-ordinated over recent weeks with US forces, who also departed on Wednesday.
It follows an agreement between the US and the Iraqi government, signed two years ago, to withdraw foreign troops by the end of this month.
British and US forces have been present in Iraq since 2014, as part of the international coalition to help defeat the extremist Islamic State (IS) group. Their departure brings the mission, known as Operation Inherent Resolve, to an end.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said the end of the coalition’s mission marked “Iraq’s transition to a phase in which it assumes full responsibility for its security and stability”.
Iraq is set to hold four “Sovereignty Days” as a national holiday to mark the withdrawal.
“Following more than a decade of operations, training and capacity building, Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and the Kurdish Peshmerga have secured the enduring territorial defeat of Daesh in Iraq and are now well placed to take primary responsibility for the country’s security,” the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement, referring to IS by an Arabic acronym. “With these objectives achieved, Iraq and its international partners can begin a new chapter focused on enduring security co-operation under Iraqi leadership.”
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the coalition’s departure from Irbil marked “the successful conclusion of the military mission that defeated [IS] in Iraq”.
The Iraqi government declared the military defeat of IS in 2017, but coalition forces remained to help prevent the group’s resurgence.
Credit: bbc.com
