Sunday, Australian troops ended their combat mission in Iraq and started withdrawing from the country, Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said. The Overwatch Battle Group soldiers were based at Tallil air base, about 300 km south of Baghdad, where they had been providing security training for local forces and carrying out reconstruction and aid work. Australians joined the U.S.-led campaign in early 2003.
In Iraq, the local governor, Aziz kadoum Alwan, said that the soldiers left Dhi Qar and Muthanna provinces after a flag-lowering ceremony. The details of the return of the Australian soldiers were not immediately available but a spokesperson said that the troops would have returned back before the government's deadline of mid-2008. This withdrawal of the troops also fulfils Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's election promise to bring home Australian 550 troops from the conflict zone by the middle of the year.
The battle group provided the Iraqi army space and time to train, grow and consolidate into a capable force, the defense minister said. The Australian personnel had contributed to the individual and collective training of 33,000 Iraqi army soldiers. They helped train the soldiers in logistics management, counter-insurgency operations and combat service support, reports said.
The defense minister also said that about six Australian soldiers have been injured during the security operations in Iraq and several vehicles have been damaged.
The Iraqis working for the Australian forces will be resettled in Australia after the government announced in April that it would be offering them permanent residency.
Canberra will still have about 1,000 personnel deployed in Iraq, who will work from nearby countries on two maritime surveillance aircraft and a warship, which helps patrol offshore oil platforms. There will be a small security and liaison force that will operate out of Iraq itself.The Iraq campaign was unpopular in Australia and was a key point of difference between Labor leader Rudd and conservative former prime minister and staunch George W. Bush ally John Howard at the November election.
Poland has also announced that it will end its military presence in Iraq this year. Spain was the first U.S. ally to end its Iraq operations when it pulled out its forces in 2004.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.