ENDS IN ISIS WIPE-OUT

VICTORY MARCH Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi arrives in Mosul STRIKE ONE Smoke billows following a US-led air-strike Picture: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE DRIVING ISIS out of Mosul after three years is hugely important – not just for Iraq but for the rest of the world.

It was at Mosul’s al-Nuri mosque that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed his caliphate in 2014.

The caliphate as he dreamt it – land they wanted to claim as ISIS territory – now no longer physically exists as Mosul is back in Iraqi government hands.

The twisted cleric’s men had swept across western and northern Iraq, killing thousands – and the men who eventually took their place were retrained and have exacted decisive revenge on ISIS. It is DEVASTATION Blitzed street in the Old City possible for Iraq to now regain control but its government has to manage expectations of a new Mosul, which will take decades and cost billions to rebuild.

There will also be justified fears of increased Iranian influence in the country, as its troops and Tehranbacked Shia Iraqi militia played a big role in retaking Mosul.

As did the Kurdish Peshmerga, whose troops re-took outlying areas when the operation started eight months ago. They will have RESPITE Exhausted Iraqi troops take a break

demands too and Turkey will want to rein them in. Along with the rest of NATO and Arab air forces, the British RAF also played a role – a fact not lost on jihadis wanting to launch attacks in Britain.

It is likely that the euphoria of defeating ISIS in Mosul will mean a heightened risk of attacks across Europe, as the group reverts to less overt military manoeuvring and returns to al-Qaeda type tactics.

So liberating Mosul is a major development in the global effort to tackle terrorism but, unfortunately, it is by no means the end of ISIS.