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Last U.S. combat convoy has left Iraq

Mosul, Iraq (CNN) - The last U.S. brigade combat team in Iraq has left the country, a move that helps U.S. President Barack Obama reach his goal of 50,000 troops in the country by September 1.

Their departure leaves about 56,000 U.S. troops in the country, according to the U.S. military.

Capt. Christopher Ophardt, spokesman for the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, said the last of the 4,000 members of the unit crossed the border into Kuwait early Thursday.

A few hundred members stayed behind to finish administrative and logistical duties but will fly out of Baghdad later Thursday, Ophardt said.

Much of the brigade departed more than a day ago, but the announcement was delayed for security reasons.

Their departure comes more than seven years after U.S. combat forces entered, though their departure does not signify the end of all U.S. combat forces in the country.

Another 6,000 U.S. troops must leave Iraq to meet Obama's deadline for the end of U.S. combat operations in the country and the beginning of Operation New Dawn, in which the remaining U.S. forces are expected to switch to an advise-and-assist role.

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