PM declares ‘end of war against IS’ in Iraq

BAGHDAD: Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Saturday declared victory in a three-year war by Iraqi forces to expel the IS militant group that at its height endangered Iraq’s very existence. “Our forces are in complete control of the Iraqi-Syrian border and I therefore announce the end of the war against Daesh (IS),” Abadi told a conference in Baghdad. “Our enemy wanted to kill our civilisation, but we have won through our unity and our determination. We have triumphed in little time,” he said, hailing Iraq’s “heroic armed forces”.

IS seized vast areas north and west of Baghdad in a lightning offensive in 2014. With Iraq’s army and police retreating in disarray at the time, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, spiritual leader of the country’s majority sect, called for a general mobilisation, leading to the formation of Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary units. Iraq’s fightback was also launched with the backing of an air campaign waged by a US-led coalition, recapturing town after town from the clutches of the militants in fierce urban warfare. — AFP