US troops withdraw from Iraqi towns and villages

An explosion in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk killed at least 25 people today. The car bomb was set off in a highly populated commercial market and the attack came as US forces withdrew from Iraqi towns and villages.
For the first time since the 2003 invasion, Iraq has control of its own security. President Nouri Al-Maliki declared today a national holiday, calling it “National Sovereignty Day.” Video footage and photos show many Iraqis celebrated in the streets of Baghdad, and other cities, as the US continues to scale down its forces and makes the transition from combat operations to training Iraqi military and police.
To find out more about Iraqi civilians´ reactions to Tuesday´s events, FSRN spoke with Baswa Alkhateeb, an Iraqi mother living in Bagdad.