Iraqi Prime Minister Arrives in Mosul to Declare Victory Over ISIS
While Iraqi troops were still mopping up the last pockets of resistance
and Iraqi forces could be facing guerrilla attacks for weeks, the military began to savor its win in the shattered alleyways of the old city, where the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, put up a fierce last stand.
By TIM ARANGO and MICHAEL R. GORDONJULY 9, 2017
MOSUL, Iraq — Dressed in a military uniform, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi arrived here in Mosul
on Sunday to congratulate Iraq’s armed forces for wresting the city from the Islamic State.
But in an acknowledgment that the victory he had come to proclaim was not completely sealed, Iraqi officials said the prime
minister would not make a public statement until the last patch of Islamic State territory in Mosul was cleared.
But deaths among Iraqi security forces in the Mosul battle had reached 774 by the end of March,
according to American officers, which suggests the toll is more than a thousand now.