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." “But we will not accuse them of anything,” he continued, “if they don’t carry weapons they are civilians.”

Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, fell to the Islamic State group in 2014, when IS blitzed across much of northwestern Iraq and subsequently declared a caliphate on the territory held by extremists in Iraq and Syria. 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. More than 897,000 people were displaced, and the U.N. said there was no end in sight to the humanitarian crisis in Iraq despite the conclusion of the fighting.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declares the battle for Mosul over, after the majority of ISIL militants were defeated.