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

"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.

He added: "The primary responsibility for addressing Iraq's remaining security challenges, including [IS] remnants and Iran-aligned militias that undermine Iraqi sovereignty and regional stability, now rests with the government of Iraq.

They returned to Iraq in 2003, when US President George W Bush ordered Operation Iraqi Freedom to remove the dictator from power and eliminate weapons of mass destruction that turned out not to exist.