Iraq is “totally liberated” from IS: armed forces

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announces the end of the war against Daesh

"Our forces are in complete control of the Iraqi-Syrian border and I therefore announce the end of the war against Daesh [IS]," Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said.

Iraq has been ''totally liberated'' from the Islamic State, the Iraqi armed forces announced in a statement on Saturday.

 Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced "the end of the war" in Iraq against the IS group and that his forces had regained full control of the border with Syria.

Complete control

"Our forces are in complete control of the Iraqi-Syrian border and I therefore announce the end of the war against Daesh [IS]," Mr. 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.

IS seized vast areas north and west of Baghdad in a lightning offensive in 2014, endangering the very existence of the Iraqi state.

Fightback clinched it

Iraq's fightback was launched with the backing of an air campaign waged by a United States-led coalition, recapturing town after town from the clutches of the jihadists.

"I announce the good news: the liberation by Iraqi forces of the whole of the Iraqi-Syrian border," the Prime Minister told the conference organised by the Iraqi journalists' union.