Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced on Sunday "victory" over Islamic State in the city of Mosul, his office said.

"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 for the great victory," said a statement from his office. </s> Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi formally declared victory over Islamic State in Mosul on Monday (July 10) as only a few dozen militants put up resistance after 9 months of gruelling urban warfare. </s> Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi arrived in Mosul on Sunday and congratulated Iraqi armed forces for driving the extremist militant Islamic State (ISIS) group out of its major stronghold in the country.

Iraqi armed forces, backed by a United States-led coalition, were battling ISIS in Mosul for months. The victory marks the end of the battle that left Iraq's second largest city in ruins, killed hundreds of people and displaced almost a million civilians.

Abadi's office said he was visiting "liberated" Mosul to congratulate his "heroic fighters". However, the Prime Minister later suggested he would only declare victory once final pockets of resistance were cleared.

"Victory is certain, and the (IS) remnants are surrounded... and it is just a matter of time for us to announce the great victory to our people," Abadi said in a statement.

The delay "comes out of my respect and support for our... forces who are continuing the clearing operation," he said.

"There are only one or two pockets of Daesh remnants left," and "the major victory is in hand," the premier added, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.

Iraqi troops are reportedly still battling ISIS militants in some of the last areas of resistance, and could be facing guerrilla attacks for weeks.

The prime minister's office said that Abadi met commanders in Mosul and issued a series of orders on "sustaining victories and eliminating the defeated remnants" of ISIS, as well as "establishing security and stability in the liberated city."

Although most of Mosul has been reclaimed by the Iraqi forces, they still face dangers ahead with ISIS sleeper cells and suicide bombers.

The forces would also need to clear all the houses in the city, which are rigged with explosive traps so that civilians can return to the region.

The battle against ISIS is still a long way to go in Iraq as other cities continue to remain under the group's control. </s> Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says his US-backed forces have begun the fight to take back the city of Tal Afar from Islamic State militants.

Iraqi security forces have launched an offensive to take back the city of Tal Afar, their next objective in the US-backed campaign to defeat Islamic State militants, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says.

"You either surrender, or die," Abadi said in a televised speech announcing the offensive, addressing the militants.

A longtime stronghold of hardline Sunni insurgents, Tal Afar, 80km west of Mosul, was cut off from the rest of the Islamic State-held territory in June.

The city is surrounded by Iraqi government troops and Shi'ite volunteers in the south, and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in the north.

About 2000 battle-hardened militants remain in the city, according to US and Iraqi military commanders.

Islamic State's self-proclaimed "caliphate" effectively collapsed last month, when US-backed Iraqi forces completed the takeover of the militants' capital in Iraq, Mosul, after a nine-month campaign. </s> (IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – General Commander of Iraqi Armed forces and Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, announced on Monday launching the battle to liberate Mosul from the ISIS grip, and pointed out that the security forces that will participate in the battle are Iraqi army, police and national police.

Prime Minister Haider Abadi said in a speech on state TV, “I announce today the start of the heroic operations to free you from the terror and the oppression of Daesh (ISIS).”

“We will meet soon on the ground of Mosul to celebrate liberation and your salvation,” Abadi added.

Abadi also called the people of Mosul to cooperate with the security forces, and emphasized that the battle will be handled by the Iraqi army and national police only.

Nearly 65,000 military personnel including Iraqi soldiers, Kurdish Peshmerga militia and Sunni tribal fighters were expected to participate in the offensive to liberate the city of more than 5,000 ISIS militants. </s> Iraq's Prime Minister is declaring an end to the Islamic State group's self-proclaimed caliphate after Iraqi forces captured the compound of a landmark mosque in Mosul that was blown up last week. Haider al-Abadi says "we are seeing the end of the fake Daesh state ... we will not relent, our brave forces will bring victory," according to a statement posted to Twitter Thursday where he used the Arabic acronym for IS.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Yahoo!. </s> MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — Iraq’s Prime Minister is declaring an end to the Islamic State group’s self-proclaimed caliphate after Iraqi forces captured the compound of a landmark mosque in Mosul that was blown up last week.

Haider al-Abadi says “we are seeing the end of the fake Daesh state … we will not relent, our brave forces will bring victory,” according to a statement posted to Twitter Thursday where he used the Arabic acronym for IS.

The retaking of the al-Nuri mosque is a hugely symbolic win. The site is where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his only public appearance in July 2014, declaring an Islamic “caliphate” on territory captured in Iraq and Syria.

Iraqi and coalition officials say IS fighters blew up the site last week, but IS blames a U.S. air strike for the destruction.

The advances Thursday come as the Iraqi troops are pushing deeper into the Old City, a densely populated neighborhood west of the Tigris River where IS fighters are making their last stand in Iraq’s second-largest city.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> Image copyright Twitter/@IraqiPMO Image caption Haider al-Abadi (centre) waved an Iraqi national flag as he celebrated with troops in Mosul

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has formally declared victory over so-called Islamic State (IS) in Mosul.

Mr Abadi waved a national flag with troops after announcing the "collapse of the terrorist state of falsehood".

Earlier, clashes were reported in a small part of Old City where a few dozen IS militants were holding out.

The battle for Mosul has taken almost nine months, left large areas in ruins, killed thousands of civilians and displaced more than 920,000 others.

Commanders from the US-led coalition that has provided air and ground support to Iraqi forces said the urban combat had been most intense since World War Two.

Mr Abadi made the declaration of victory at the operations room of the Counter-Terrorism Service, whose elite forces were the first to enter Mosul in November.

Using a pejorative term for IS based on an Arabic acronym of its former name, he said: "I announce from here the end and the failure and the collapse of the terrorist state of falsehood and terrorism, which the terrorist Daesh announced from Mosul."

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Soldiers and police officers cheered as PM Abadi joined the celebrations

But Mr Abadi warned that more challenges lay ahead.

"We have another mission ahead of us - to create stability, to build and clear Daesh cells.

"And that requires an intelligence and security effort, and the unity which enabled us to fight Daesh," he added, before waving an Iraqi national flag.

The US-led coalition confirmed that while areas of the Old City still had to be cleared of explosive devices and possible IS fighters in hiding, the Iraqi security forces had Mosul "firmly under their control".

The senior American commander in Iraq, Lt Gen Stephen Townsend, congratulated the Iraqi security forces on their "historic victory against a brutal and evil enemy".

"Make no mistake; this victory alone does not eliminate [IS] and there is still a tough fight ahead. But the loss of one of its twin capitals and a jewel of their so-called caliphate is a decisive blow," he said.

Image copyright AFP Image caption The US-led coalition said Iraqi security forces had delivered a "decisive blow" to IS

Mr Abadi had to delay declaring the "liberation" of Mosul on Sunday because a pocket of resistance remained in the Old City, on the western bank of the River Tigris, that was only about 180m (200 yards) long and 45m wide.

Iraqi army officers believed only a few dozen militants were left inside along with their wives and children, who they said were being used as human shields.

Gunfire and explosions were heard coming from the area earlier on Monday.

Mosul has been devastated by the battle, with the UN estimating that more than 5,000 buildings have been damaged and 490 destroyed in the Old City alone.

Image copyright AFP Image caption The UN says 5,000 buildings have been damaged and 490 destroyed in the Old City alone

"It's a relief to know that the military campaign in Mosul is ending. The fighting may be over, but the humanitarian crisis is not," said the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq, Lise Grande.

"Many of the people who have fled have lost everything. They need shelter, food, health care, water, sanitation and emergency kits. The levels of trauma we are seeing are some of the highest anywhere. What people have experienced is nearly unimaginable."

IS militants overran Mosul in June 2014, before seizing control of large parts of northern and western Iraq. The following month, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his first and only public appearance as IS leader at the city's Great Mosque of al-Nuri, and gave a speech proclaiming the creation of a "caliphate".

IS blew up the mosque almost exactly three years later as Iraqi troops prepared to retake it - a move Iraq's prime minister called a "formal declaration of defeat".

The BBC's Jonathan Beale in Mosul says the jihadists may have lost militarily in the city, but this is not their end in Iraq nor the end of their twisted ideology.

IS still controls territory in three areas of Iraq - around Hawija, 130km (80 miles) south-east of Mosul; around Tal Afar, 65km west; and from Ana to Al-Qaim in the Euphrates river valley, 250km to the south-west.

It also holds a string of towns along the Euphrates in Syria, including Albu Kamal and Mayadin, but its stronghold of Raqqa is besieged by US-backed fighters. </s> Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory in the "liberated" city of Mosul on Sunday, his office said, after a gruelling nearly nine-month battle against the Islamic state group.

Abadi "arrives in the liberated city of Mosul and congratulates the heroic fighters and the Iraqi people on the achievement of the major victory," his office said in a statement.

A photo on Abadi's official Twitter account showed him dressed in a black military uniform and cap as he arrived in Mosul to announce the recapture of the city.

The fighting did not seem to be completely over yet, with gunfire still audible in Mosul and air strikes hitting the city around the time the premier's office released the statement.

Iraqi forces launched the Mosul operation in October, first fighting their way to the city, retaking its east and then assaulting its western side, where some of the heaviest fighting occurred.

The battle has taken a heavy toll on civilians, pushing more than 900,000 people to flee their homes, only a fraction of home have returned, according to the United Nations.

And security forces have also suffered heavy losses, with thousands killed and wounded, though official casualty figures have not been released by Iraqi authorities.

IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes have since regained much of the territory they lost.

The recapture of Mosul does not however mark the end of the threat posed by IS, which holds territory elsewhere in Iraq and is able to carry out frequent bombings in government-held areas.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announces the start of the Battle of Mosul, backed by the U.S.-led coalition, to retake ISIL-held Mosul, the self-declared caliphate's capital in Iraq.