Iraqi PM Our war against IS has ended
Iraq has said its war against the Islamic State is over after more than three years of combat operations.
Prime minister Haider al- Abadi revealed Iraqi forces are in full control of the country’s border with Syria.
At a conference in Baghdad, his spokesman said the development marked the end of the military fight against IS.
A s en ior m i l it a r y commander conf irmed that combat operations had been completed.
Lt Gen Abdul - Ami r Rasheed Yar Al lah said that “all Iraqi lands are liberated” from IS gangs and Iraqi forces “completely control the international Iraqi-Syrian border”.
IS fighters overran nearly a third of Iraqi territory, including Mosul , the country’s second- largest city, in the summer of 2014.
Over the past three-anda-half years, Iraqi ground forces – closely backed by the US-led coalition – have retaken all of that territory.
But IS remain capable of carrying out insurgent attacks in Iraq and the group have recovered from past setbacks.
In November, the Iraqi army retook the last town held by IS, Rawah, near the border with Syria.
Over the following weeks, the forces have continued to clear patches of the vast western deserts.
The f ight ing caused devastation in many areas and three million Iraqis are still displaced.
Finance Secretary Derek Mackay is set to introduce up to three new tax bands in his Budget on Thursday, amid SNP claims that the extra cash will give public services a boost of up to £290million.
The changes could mean anyone earning more than £ 35,000 will pay more income tax from April.
Mackay said yesterday that his Budget would help to create a “futureproofed, forward-thinking” Scottish economy.
But critics warned he was gambling the SNP’s political future by hitting voters in the pocket.