US combat troops withdrew from Iraq two weeks ahead of schedule on Thursday, but US officials cautioned that the war is not over and that more fighting could still lie ahead, dpa reported.
The 4th Stryker Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division made its way across the border and into Kuwait early Thursday, becoming the last full brigade to exit Iraq under President Barack Obama's plan to have combat forces out by August 31.
That leaves about 56,000 soldiers in Iraq who will stay behind to continue training Iraqi security forces and assist in counterterrorism operations. All American soldiers are due to leave Iraq by the end of 2011.
US officials cautioned that as the combat role comes to a close at the end of this month, there are still challenges in the future as the mission shifts from a military-led campaign to a diplomatic and civilian one.
"I don't think anybody has declared the end of the war as far as I know," Geoff Morrell, a Pentagon spokesman, said on MSNBC. "There is still fighting."
Even as Obama touted the milestone in the Iraq war in the months and weeks leading up to the August deadline, he made no public comments Thursday as he headed on a 10-day vacation. He made brief remarks about the economy before boarding a helicopter.
Morrell said the US intervention in Iraq will remain known as "Operation Iraqi Freedom" as it has been for seven-and-a-half years, until it is renamed "Operation New Dawn" at the end of this month.
"Right now, we still have 56,000 forces there," Morrell said. "Their mission still involves combat. This is still Operation Iraqi Freedom."
"Counterterrorism will still be part of their mission," he added. "So they very well could be in combat situations even after the end of this month."
The US military kept the departure under wraps until early Thursday. A Washington Post reporter present at the brigade's departure reported the military required the accompanying media to maintain secrecy until the brigade reached Kuwait.
The brigade's departure came more than seven years after the March 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein's regime. The most recent Pentagon figures showed 4,415 US soldiers have died in the conflict.
US commanders opted to drive the combat troops out over a 580-km journey instead of flying them out to keep the last combat force in country several weeks longer, the Post reported.
Obama wants to wind down the US role in Iraq and devote more resources to the war in Afghanistan - which he has listed as a top priority. Obama believes the war in Iraq has drained resources from the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
The end of the US combat role marks a major shift for the Iraqi government, which has been taking on a greater responsibility for security operations.
The top US commander in Iraq, Ray Odierno, had said that a recent uptick of violence and the political stalemate in the Iraqi government following March parliamentary elections would not delay ending the combat role.
A recent upsurge of violence includes more than 80 people just in the last week, including 58 killed Tuesday when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside an Iraqi army recruiting centre in Baghdad. US officials say al-Qaeda in Iraq is severely weakened and the recent spate of attacks is a desperate attempt to show it has a presence in the country.
Tens of thousands of US soldiers have been leaving Iraq this year and hundreds of bases were transferred to the Iraqi government. The US military has expressed confidence that the Iraqis are capable of assuming security responsibilities.