After 4,400 deaths, US ends combat in Iraq

Washington: US President Barack Obama declared the end of a wounding US combat mission in Iraq on Tuesday, that resulted in 4,400 soldier deaths, while signalling escalation of the conflict in Afghanistan to defeat terrorists harboured in the region bordering Pakistan.

"As we speak, Al Qaeda continues to plot against us, and its leadership remains anchored in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan," he said on Tuesday in a prime time nationally televised address from the Oval Office.

Image: U.S. Army soldiers from A Co., 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, stand in formation for a promotion ceremony at Joint Security Station McHenry, near Hawija, north of Baghdad, Iraq on Aug. 31, 2010 on the last day of U.S. combat operations in the country.