Iraqi Prime Minister declares an end to the country’s war against Islamic State
The terrorist group had been evicted from the country after a military campaign in the desert area bordering Syria, Haider al-Abadi announced.
Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Saturday announced the end of a three-year military campaign by the country’s military to defeat the Islamic State terrorist group.
“Our enemy wanted to kill our civilisation, but we have won through our unity and our determination. We have triumphed in little time,” Abadi was quoted as saying by AFP.
He later tweeted that the the entire length of the Iraq-Syria border had been secured. “We defeated Daesh through our unity and sacrifice for the nation,” the prime minister said, referring to the Islamic State group by its Arabic acronym. “Long live Iraq and its people.”
Our heroic armed forces have now secured the entire length of the Iraq-Syria border. We defeated Daesh through our unity and sacrifice for the nation. Long live Iraq and its people
— Haider Al-Abadi (@HaiderAlAbadi) December 9, 2017
Commander-in-Chief @HaiderAlAbadi announces that Iraq’s armed forces have secured the western desert & the entire Iraq Syria border, says this marks the end of the war against Daesh terrorists who have been completely defeated and evicted from Iraq pic.twitter.com/6P2nqjl0WZ
— Government of Iraq (@IraqiGovt) December 9, 2017
The Iraqi Army and Shiite fighters from the Popular Mobilisation Forces on November 23 launched the operation to drive the terrorists out of the desert region bordering Syria. The Army had then said that the objective was to prevent the terrorists from hiding in the desert region and using it as a base for attacks in the future.
The vast arid area between the Euphrates and Tigiris rivers, known as Al-Jazirah, has been a hotbed of insurgency since former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was ousted by the United States in 2003.