Alwaght-Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday declared victory over the ISIS Takfiri terrorist group in Mosul after over eight months of intense fighting to liberate the key city.
“The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces (Prime Minister) Haider al-Abadi, arrived in the liberated city of Mosul and congratulated the heroic fighters and the Iraqi people on the great victory," a statement from his office read on Sunday.
Mosul is Iraq's biggest metropolis outside of Baghdad was by ISIS in June 2014 and it is in the city's al-Nouri's mosque that the Takfiri group's ringleader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared his so-called caliphate which has now virtually collapsed. Iraqi forces have liberated the city with a population of more than 2.5 million people who have been subjected some to ISIS horrors.
The recapture of Mosul, located some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad, marks the end of the ISIS Takfiri terrorist group in the Arab country.
A few hours earlier, Iraqi government forces advanced in the last few meters held by ISIS terrorists in western Mosul.
Security sources reported that the troops took over 50 percent of Qleyat and Shahwan regions, the last remaining areas under ISIS control near the western bank of the Tigris River which bisects Mosul.
The long-awaited victory in Mosul ends an eight-month campaign by the Iraqi army backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMU), commonly known in Arabic as Hashd al-Sha’abi. Over one million civilians were displaced by the conflict.
Iraqi soldiers were seen celebrating victory after a hard-won battle against the ISIS Takfiri terrorists who received backing from some regional Arab regimes and Western countries.
Late June, Iraqi forces took over the mosque where Baghdadi made his famous sermon in 2014 declaring the establishment of the group’s rule in Iraq and Syria.
A few other havens remain under Islamic State control in Anbar, Diyala, Salahuddin and Kirkuk, and are marked as next targets for Iraqi government troops.
Early July, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced an end to ISIS’s “state of falsehood” following the recapture of Mosul’s landmark Grand al-Nuri Mosque, from where the terror outfit proclaimed its so-called caliphate three years ago .
US has no role in Mosul's Liberation
The spokesman for PMU Karim al-Nouri recently rejected claims that the US had a role in Mosul's liberation saying that, "Washington wants to have a share in the final victory announcement against ISIS and benefit from it, but I have to emphasize that this victory was won by the Iraqi people and the United States did not play any role in it.”
He added that the, the US-led coalition, which has been bombing Iraq and Syria for the past couple of years, is not serious about fighting ISIS.
The PMF spokesman further praised Iran and the commander of the Iran's IRGC Quds Force General Qassem Soleimani for playing a crucial role in Mosul's liberation.
"Iran was the first country to stand with Iraq and support us. General Qassem Soleimani has been and continues to serve as the best adviser on the battlefield against ISIS,” he said.
"There were not many Iranians, but the very few who were in Iraq have had a huge impact on the fight against ISIS through presenting good plans,” he added
