Iraq Declares Complete Victory In The War Against Islamic State

Iraq’s prime minister declared an end Saturday to the war against the Islamic State, more than three years after militants overran and captured one-third of the country and imposed a violent and austere rule over millions of Iraqis.

Haider al-Abadi announced that the rugged, sparsely populated desert region bordering Syria has been “cleansed” of Islamic State fighters and that the porous border that had underpinned the self-declared caliphate that straddled both countries has been fully secured.

“This victory was achieved . . . when Iraqis united to face a heinous enemy that didn’t want us to see this day,” Abadi said. “They wanted to return us back to the Dark Ages.”

(c) 2017, The Washington Post · Tamer El-Ghobashy

{Matzav.com}