Iraq celebrates win over IS with parade

Driven out three years after controlling a third of country’s territory

An Iraqi military parade celebrating final victory over Islamic State is underway in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, an Iraqi military spokesman told Reuters on Sunday.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared final victory over Islamic State on Saturday after Iraqi forces drove its last remnants from the country, three years after the militant group captured about a third of Iraq’s territory.

Iraqi forces recaptured the last areas still under Islamic State control along the border with Syria and secured the western desert, Abadi said, thus marking the end of the war against the militants. His announcement comes two days after the Russian military announced the defeat of the militants in neighboring Syria, where Moscow is backing Syrian government forces.

“Honorable Iraqis: your land has been completely liberated. The dream of liberation is now a reality,” Abadi said in a televised address. He was speaking dozens of servicemen from different branches behind him.

“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.”

Daesh is an Arabic acronym for Islamic State, also known as ISIS.

The government said the declaration meant Iraqi forces had secured the western desert and the entire Iraq-Syria border, and marked the end of the war against Islamic State.

Abadi declared December 10 a national holiday to be celebrated every year. State television aired celebratory songs praising government forces and militias, and showed scenes of celebration on the streets of Baghdad and other provinces.

The US-led coalition that has been supporting the Iraqi forces against Islamic State welcomed the news, as did Brett McGurk, the US Special Presidential Envoy to the coalition.

“We congratulate the Prime Minister and all the Iraqi people on this significant achievement, which many thought impossible,” he said in a series of tweets.

“We honor the sacrifices of the Iraqi people, its security forces, and the Kurdish Peshmerga, and admire the unity in their ranks that had made this day possible.”

The US State Department also issued a statement of congratulations.