Pentagon says US troop withdrawal from Iraq is complete

The withdrawal ends two decades of foreign intervention in Iraq as part of ‘global war on terror’ and anti-ISIL fight.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.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Iraq looks for oil export alternatives to the troubled Strait of Hormuzlist 2 of 3UNGA 81: Five key takeaways from general debatelist 3 of 3Can Iraq handle future security challenges alone?end of listIn 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.A US-led coalition initially invaded Iraq in 2003 as part of the so-called Global War on Terror, with deployment numbers reaching a peak of about 170,000 US military personnel in 2007. The US withdrew troops in 2011, but redepl...