ISIS swept through Iraq in 2014, capturing cities across the center and north of the country in a brazen offensive, including Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city and the capital of Nineveh province, where the group’s former leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared its so-called “caliphate.”
Sudani referred to the defeat of ISIS as a “civilizational victory,” stating that it was achieved through the cohesion of the Iraqi people and sacrifices from all the national components of the country.
“We emerged from this experience stronger and more determined to continue rebuilding, developing, and advancing Iraq, and to nurture generations that bear responsibility and look to a promising future,” read the statement.
While the group was declared territorially defeated in 2017 in Iraq, it still continues to pose serious security risks through hit-and-run attacks, bombings, and abductions, especially across the Syrian desert as well as several Iraqi provinces.
“The remnants of terrorism no longer pose a threat to the existence of the Iraqi state. Today, our people enjoy security and stability as a result of the sacrifices of our righteous martyrs,” stressed Sudani.
The militants are particularly active in stretches of land disputed by Baghdad and Erbil, which include a security vacuum that includes parts of Kirkuk, Salahaddin, and Diyala.
Mosul was retaken in a major Iraqi and Kurdish counteroffensive in 2017, supported by the US-led global coalition.
Mosul’s Old City, on the western bank of the Tigris River that divides the city into two, was severely damaged as a result of the fight against ISIS and bombardments by both the Iraqi air force and the US-led coalition.
