Alwaght-Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said that the total liberation of the city of Mosul from ISIS terrorist group will be declared in a few days.
"It's a matter of a few days and we will announce the total liberation of Mosul," Abadi told reporters on Thursday, according to Baghdad-based Sumaria TV.
The announcement came as Iraqi forces were continuing the fight against ISIS fighters in their last stronghold in western Mosul, the city's old town.
On Wednesday, ISIS Takfiri terrorists blew up the iconic 12th-century Hadba (Hunchback) minaret along with the Grand al-Nuri Mosque, where ISIS ringleader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced a Takfiri "caliphate" back in 2014.
Abadi stressed that the destruction was an admission by the militants that they were losing the fight in Mosul.
“ISIS’s bombing of the Hadba minaret and the al-Nuri mosque is a formal declaration of their defeat,” he said.
The loss of the iconic 12th century minaret - one of the country's most recognisable monuments sometimes referred to as Iraq's Tower of Pisa - left the country in shock.
Iraqi forces are pushing into the Bab al-Beed neighborhood in Mosul's Old City - the last ISIS hideout in what appears to be the final major Iraqi battle.
The armed group have lost much of their territory over the last three years, and Mosul is their last urban bastion in Iraq.
The group's fighters are expected to make their last stand in the Old City - a densely populated quarter with narrow, winding alleys.
Up to 150,000 civilians are believed to be trapped in there, where conditions have been described by the UN as desperate.
Iraqi Brigadier General Falah Fadel al-Obeidi, from the elite Counter Terrorism Service, told AFP that the recent destruction was an attempt by terrorists “to cover up their heavy losses in the media, but the media and the people see the victories and see the collapse of ISIS."
Iraqi government troops regained control over eastern Mosul in January after three months of intensive military operation. Iraqi forces began late April to advance towards the enclave from the northwest.
The operations to liberate Mosul are being carried out by the Iraqi army and Iraqi pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Forces.
