Last UK and US troops leave Iraq as anti-Islamic State mission ends

Since the start of the US and Israel's war with Iran earlier this year, militias have been targeting the remaining US and UK forces stationed at Irbil air base.Hundreds of Nato troops stationed in Baghdad left the country in March as tensions rose.A BBC team visited the coalition base in Irbil in April this year, during a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran.They were forced to circle the base in an RAF transport aircraft while drones were being launched nearby.At the height of the US bombing campaign against Iran, the coalition base was being targeted by up to 28 drones and missiles a day.RAF Regiment Gunners, who were among the last British military personnel stationed there, had shot down more than 100 drones in the first six weeks of the war. Many of the attack drones were being launched by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.On Wednesday, signalling the end of the mission, the MoD paid tribute to UK personnel who had contributed to the counter-IS mission.It said they had provided "valuable support, training and assistance" to more than 111,000 members of the Iraqi Security Forces, including more than 21,000 Peshmerga forces in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region.It also said...