US forces formally mark end of Iraq mission

US forces formally marked the end of their mission in Iraq with a low-key ceremony near Baghdad, after nearly nine years of divisive war that began with the invasion to oust Saddam Hussein.

The “casing of the colours” near the airport, the first site the US occupied in Baghdad in 2003, comes with around 4,000 US soldiers still in Iraq, all of whom will depart in the coming days.

At that point almost no American troops will remain in a country where there were once nearly 170,000 on more than 500 bases.