Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced a complete and final victory over the Islamic State (ISIS) in his country on Saturday.
“Honorable Iraqis: your land has been completely liberated. The dream of liberation is now a reality,” Abadi said in a televised address. “We have accomplished a very difficult mission. Our heroes have reached the final strongholds of Daesh and purified it. The Iraqi flag flies high today over all Iraqi lands.”
The government declared December 10th to be an annual national holiday and a victory parade through the capital city of Baghdad is being planned.
Just three years ago, ISIS controlled 34,000 square miles of territory, fully one-third of Iraq, in a region spreading from the Mediterranean coast to south of Baghdad, leading them to declare a caliphate. The effort to eradicate ISIS from Iraq was spearheaded by a U.S. led international coalition. U.S. military officials told the media that the remaining ISIS fighters fled Iraq to either Syria or Turkey.
The announcement of the Iraqi victory marks a major milestone in the war on terror, coming just two days after the Russian military declared they had eradicated ISIS from neighboring Syria.
The U.S. Department of State congratulated Iraq on its victory via Twitter.
US applauds the Iraqi government’s announcement of the full liberation of Iraqi territory from ISIS control. The US and the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, will continue to partner with the Iraqi Security Forces, advising, training, and equipping them. https://t.co/r1aggiGP6A
— Department of State (@StateDept) December 9, 2017
