Alwaght- Iraq's prime minister on Tuesday congratulated the country’s armed forces on "this big victory in Mosul" as ISIS terrorists cling to last tiny urban patches.
Haider al-Abadi spoke during a press conference in Baghdad, less than a week after he declared an end to ISIS Takfiri terrorist group’s self-styled caliphate after Iraqi forces liberated the landmark al-Nuri Mosque in the Old City.
"Praise be to God, we managed to liberate (Mosul) and proved the others were wrong, the people of Mosul supported and stood with our security forces against terrorism," al-Abadi said.
His remarks came on the third anniversary of ISIS ringleader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's sermon at the al-Nuri Mosque, from where he declared his fake caliphate on ISIS-occupied territories in Syria and Iraq.
Also during the press conference, al-Abadi added that he has given instructions to rebuild and stabilize areas of the city already freed from the notorious terrorist group.
Meanwhile, ISIS terrorists are engaged in a “fight to the death” in Mosul’s Old City as advancing Iraqi forces have bottled up the group's remaining elements in a few patches of the Old City, a military commander says.
Staff Lieutenant General Abdulghani al-Assadi, a senior commander in the Iraq’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), announced the news on Tuesday, adding that army troops were just 250 meters from the Tigris River after recapturing the embattled city’s main hospital compound a day earlier.
He further stated that terrorists were increasingly resorting to bomb attacks, including through detonating their explosive vests, speculating that the battle would get even more intense as the militants were pushed closer to the river, which divides the city into the eastern and western parts.
The Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19. The Old City, a densely-populated warren of narrow alleyways, is situated in the western part of the city and its complete liberation is predicted to be achieved in coming days.
The operations to liberate Mosul have been carried out by the Iraqi army and Iraqi pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Forces.
