Daesh ‘state of falsehood’ came to end: Iraqi PM

Baghdad--Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has announced an end to Daesh's "state of falsehood" following the recapture of the historical Grand al-Nuri Mosque at the heart of the city of Mosul.

"The return of al-Nuri Mosque and al-Hadba minaret to the fold of the nation marks the end of the Daesh state of falsehood," Abadi said in a statement on Thursday.

Iraqi forces, he said, would continue to hunt Daesh elements "to kill them and detain them, down to the last one."

The Iraqi army recaptured the venue of the iconic mosque on Thursday, with the country's state TV implying the liberation of the city, which has been under the control of the terrorist group since 2014.

"Their fictitious state has fallen," an Iraqi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Rasool told state TV. 

Earlier, the Iraqi military announced the news as it continues to gain more advances in Mosul's Old City.

Shortly after the announcement, the Iraqi state television reported the fall of the "mythical state," in reference to Daesh's so-called caliphate.

The TV said the recapture of the mosque means Mosul, as the terror group's command center, has been liberated, while Iraqi forces are in the middle of a mop-up operation to cleanse the city of remaining Daesh elements.

Daesh late on June 21 blew up the Grand al-Nuri Mosque and its Hadba (Hunchback) minaret.

Iraqi authorities and officials from the US-led coalition purportedly fighting Daesh terrorists said the destruction of the site, sometimes referred to as Iraq's Tower of Pisa, is a sign of the extremists' imminent loss of Mosul.

The Iraqi army forces have besieged the last Daesh positions in the southern areas of Old Mosul and they expect to purge the area of the terrorists by the next few days.

The combined pictures created by AFP on June 22, 2017 shows Nuri Mosque's leaning Al-Hadba minaret before and after it was destroyed by Daesh Takfiri terrorists on June 21, 2017.

Iraqi government forces are nearing the end of their eight-month campaign to capture the de-facto capital of Daesh in Iraq.

The media bureau of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command announced in a statement on Wednesday that army troopers had established full control over Hadarat al-Saada and al-Ahmadiyya neighborhoods northwest of Grand al-Nuri Mosque, where purported Daesh ringleader Ibrahim al-Samarrai aka Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced the formation of the group's so-called caliphate back in 2014.

Earlier on Wednesday, Federal Police Forces Commander Lieutenant General Shaker Jawdat said security forces were moving through al-Farouq district and advancing towards Bab al-Toub, Serjkhana, Bab al-Jadid and Bab al-Lakash areas in the heart of Mosul's Old City.

He revealed that government troops were in control of more than 70 percent of Daesh's last bastion in Mosul.

Jawdat noted that army troops were engaged in fierce battles with an estimated 300 Daesh militants in the Old City.

Prime Minister Thanks Sistani

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi also thanked Iraq's top Shiite cleric for his role in the war against Daesh, crediting him with saving the country and setting the stage for victory.

Three days after Mosul fell to the Daesh group in 2014, Grand Ayatollah Sayed Ali al-Sistani called on Iraqis to volunteer to fight the terro, a step that helped to halt their sweeping offensive.

Abadi issued a statement expressing his "deep thanks and gratitude" to Sistani for "his great and continuing support to the heroic fighters."

The cleric's 2014 call for volunteers "saved Iraq and paved the way for victory" over IS, Abadi said

Sistani made the call via a representative speaking at Friday prayers on June 13, 2014, days after multiple Iraqi divisions collapsed in the face of the Daesh assault in the north.

"Citizens who are able to bear arms and fight terrorists, defending their country and their people and their holy places, should volunteer and join the security forces to achieve this holy purpose," he said.

It sparked a flood of volunteers who were organised under what became known as the Hashed al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation forces -- an umbrella group for pro-government paramilitaries that is officially under the command of the country's premier.

But pre-existing Shia militias were also placed under the Hashed al-Shaabi banner and have played a major role in operations against IS.

These groups provided a pool of capable fighters that Baghdad could rely on to combat Daesh backed by disgruntled elements of military loyal to fallen dictator Saddam Hussein.