Mosul liberated as ISIS faces total defeat in Iraq

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi visited Mosul Sunday to declare it liberated from Islamic State, three years after the city’s fall to the jihadists alerted the world to the group’s growing strength, territorial ambitions and barbarity.

Abadi congratulated the Iraqi people and fighters after the last pockets under Islamic State control were retaken, according his media office.

The campaign to free Mosul from Islamic State entered its final phase in the streets of the Old City mid-June, eight months after thousands of Iraqi troops and Kurdish fighters backed by U.S.-led airstrikes began their offensive. Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of the coalition, has described it as the toughest urban warfare he has seen in 34 years of service.

Losing Mosul is a major blow against Islamic State, whose leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, made his first speech as self-proclaimed caliph from one of the city’s mosques in 2014. The group is now diminished, having lost much of its territory in northeastern Syria and northwestern Iraq. Its ability to attract foreign fighters is also dented, although it continues to inspire militants abroad who have staged terrorist attacks in London, Tehran and other cities. For Abadi, whose government has struggled to overcome political and sectarian challenges and rebuild an economy stripped of oil revenue, it’s a major success.

There have been scenes of jubilation as Iraqi forces have slowly taken back control of Mosul, removing the black banners of Islamic State. The United Nations said as many as 150,000 residents were trapped in the Old City when the battle there began. Illness and disease spread as clean drink-

ing water, food and medicine ran low. Islamic State used those who stayed as human shields, according to the U.N. Over the past few months, Islamic State killed hundreds of people who attempted to flee the city.

In one of its final acts of defiance, Islamic State blew up the Great Mosque of al-Nuri on June 22. The monument, whose leaning minaret is pictured on Iraq’s 10,000-dinar note, once towered above the historic city center. It was there that Baghdadi made his first sermon as self-proclaimed caliph and called on the world’s Muslims to obey him.

As the group sought to impose its strict interpretation of Islam, it brutally punished those who opposed it. Children were trained to be fighters. It also destroyed ancient sites it said were heresy to its ideology. Apart from the Great Mosque, Mosul also lost the Tomb of Jonah. Its museum was ransacked.

Mosul was one of Islamic State’s most important bastions. It was featured in its propaganda videos. British hostage John Cantlie appeared in at least five that sought to portray the city as an example of utopian governance with a bustling economy.

But residents described shortages and struggles to cope with rising prices for basic foods and fuel.

An estimated 2.4 million people lived in Mosul before the war, making it northern Iraq’s largest city. Hundreds of thousands fled after it was captured and as operations began to retake it in October 2016, with many seeking refuge in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region and camps nearby.

Islamic State took advantage of the poor military performance of Iraqi troops - and portrayed itself as a champion of Sunni Arabs who felt alienated by a Shiite-led government in its lightning assault across northern Iraq in the summer of 2014. It then headed south toward Baghdad, triggering fears of the country’s breakup as ethnic and sectarian tensions surged.

Iraqi forces and militias supported by Iran had pushed Islamic State into reverse with months-long battles in key cities such as Fallujah and Ramadi, before moving on to Mosul. The air power, artillery, and intelligence provided by a U.S.led coalition helped secure the city’s eastern neighborhoods in January. Residents returned to their homes, children went back to school and shopkeepers reopened stores, free to sell whatever they chose.

Battlefield progress then slowed as fighting moved deeper into the Old City, as Iraqi forces entered dense neighborhoods and faced persistent counterattacks. With the offensive from the south stalling, Iraqi troops repositioned to begin a new offensive from the north in May.

Mosul was Islamic State’s last main urban center in Iraq, but it still controls several areas in the west and northeast parts of the country, including Hawija near Kirkuk.