Iraqi security forces are clearing the final pockets of resistance by Islamic State militants in the city of Mosul. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi went to Mosul on Sunday to congratulate his troops on “liberating” the city, but he stopped short of declaring victory. The militants were said to hold an area about 180m (590ft) long … Read more
Mosul, wrested from the Islamic State jihadist group on Sunday, is Iraq’s second city and one of its cultural jewels. The jihadists seized it in a lightning offensive in June 2014 that humiliated Iraq’s security forces, who launched their massive operation to retake it in October last year. Here are some facts about Mosul: The … Read more
Iraqi soldiers snap victorious “selfies” and pose with a captured Islamic State group flag at the Mosul mosque where jihadist chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi once spoke. “Where is Baghdadi?” they say, taunting the absent jihadist leader at the site of his triumphal 2014 appearance, the only time he is known to have appeared in public … Read more