Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced on Sunday “victory” over ISIL terrorist group in the city of Mosul, his office said.

“The commander in chief of the armed forces (Prime Minister) Haider al-Abadi arrived in the liberated city of Mosul and congratulated the heroic fighters and the Iraqi people for the great victory,” said a statement from his office.

According to Iraqi sources, government authorities are planning a week of jubilation across the country after the formal declaration of victory in Mosul.

The recapture of Mosul, located some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad, would mark the effective end of ISIL in the Arab country.

Earlier on Sunday, spokesman for the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, Brigadier General Yahia Rasoul, told state-run al-Iraqiya television network that soldiers from the Nineveh Liberation Operation had killed 30 militants attempting to get away by swimming across the Tigris.

Source: Reuters