Iraqi Prime Minister Announces 'Victory' in Mosul

Haider al-Abadi, the Prime Minister of Iraq, announced on Sunday, July 9, the 'victory' over the Islamic State (ISIS) in the city of Mosul. According to Reuters, citing the Iraqi Prime Minister's office, Mr. Abadi, the commander of the country's armed forces, entered the liberated city of Mosul and congratulated the military and the people of Iraq on this significant victory. Just hours before Mr. Abadi's statement, it was reported that Iraqi army forces had managed to advance to the banks of the Tigris River in the old part of the city as they neared complete control of Mosul. As reported by Reuters, with the Iraqi army reaching the banks of the Tigris, many ISIS militants jumped into the river to escape the fighting and siege, attempting to swim to other neighborhoods along the river. Yahya Rasul, the spokesman for the Iraqi army, told the state television that 30 ISIS members who tried to swim across the Tigris on Sunday were killed by Iraqi soldiers. According to Reuters, the Iraqi flag is now flying at the riverbank in the 'Midan' neighborhood, and Iraqi forces are advancing into the last neighborhoods under ISIS control in the narrow streets of old Mosul. The Islamic State group announced on Saturday, July 8, that it intends to 'fight to the last man' in Mosul. The militants of this group, who are besieged in a small area of Mosul, have recently used women with suicide vests to accompany fleeing civilians from the old neighborhoods of the city, leading to many civilian casualties from these suicide bombings. The battle to retake Mosul has been ongoing for eight months, resulting in thousands of civilian deaths, nearly one million displaced persons, and complete destruction in some neighborhoods of the city. Casualties among Iraqi soldiers have also been high, with some reports indicating that 40 percent of the soldiers in the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service operating at the front lines in Mosul have been killed or wounded. The United States leads an international coalition to assist the Iraqi army through airstrikes against ISIS positions in Mosul. The U.S. Department of Defense has recently requested an additional $1.269 billion in funding from its government to continue supporting the Iraqi army in 2018. The United Nations predicts that over $1 billion will be needed to repair the essential infrastructure of the city. With the loss of Mosul, the remaining areas under ISIS control in Iraq will be limited to rural areas west and south of Mosul and the deserts of those regions.