Pentagon says US troop withdrawal from Iraq is complete

The Pentagon has confirmed that the final troops deployed to Iraq as part of an anti-ISIL mission have left the country. The announcement on Wednesday culminated a years-long withdrawal process, which has been hailed by Iraq’s government as an important step in reclaiming the country’s sovereignty amid two decades of war and foreign intervention. In a statement, Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell said the remaining United States troops and other international coalition forces, as well as equipment, had conducted an “orderly departure” from the Erbil Airbase in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.