Victory in Mosul as last IS are mopped up

WITH one man’s arm around his throat, and another soldier gripping his hair, a defeated IS fighter is paraded before his enemies in Mosul.

The jihadist was one of several seized during a mopping-up operation a day after Iraq’s prime minister Haider al-Abadi declared ‘total victory’ over the Islamists in the country’s second largest city.

The men were held in the Old City, the scene of the final days of the fierce, eightmonth battle to rid Mosul of IS, where skir- mishes were still taking place yesterday. Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, the top US Commander in Iraq, warned the government must now ensure a new version of Islamic State – which he dubbed ‘ISIS 2.0’ – does not rise from the ashes of the city. ‘They’re going to have to reach out and reconcile with the Sunni population, and make them feel like their government represents them,’ he said. Amnesty International said the conflict in Mosul had created a ‘civilian catastrophe’.