Iraqi PM Haider Abadi declares Iraq "liberated" from #ISIS

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi on Saturday declared the end of a three-year war to root out Islamic State militants from the country after the “liberation” of the Iraq-Syria border.

“Our forces are in complete control of the Iraqi-Syrian border and I therefore announce the end of the war against Daesh (IS),” Abadi said at a press conference in Baghdad. “Our enemy wanted to kill our civilization, but we have won through our unity and our determination. We have triumphed in little time,” he was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse. The announcement comes after Iraqi forces regained control of Rawah, the last town held by ISIS near the border with Syria. Some 3 million Iraqis have been displaced since the so-called Islamic State took over nearly a third of the country’s territory in 2014. Abadi had initially declared the war over in July, but battles with ISIS continued in Mosul for weeks afterward.