Iraq’s PM calls for describing ISIS as extremist group

The Iraqi joint forces managed to restore their control on the bridge and water station of Badush district in the western side of Mousl in the framework of the current military operations aiming to liberate the Iraqi city from the grip of the extremist group. They also managed to liberate Bab Al Tob’s garage after a four-hour clash with ISIS extremist group.

The victories of the Iraqi troops come in coincidence with the ministerial plenary for the 68-nation Global Coalition to defeat ISIS in which U.S Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stressed that it is a matter of time to kill the leader of the extremist group Abu Baker Al Baghdadi. He added, “All his deputies are now dead. It is a matter of time for him to meet the same fate.”

Tillerson said the ongoing Iraqi-led retaking of Mosul is pushing ISIS out of a key stronghold and liberating more than a million civilians. “This Mosul campaign could not have succeeded without the cooperation between the Iraqi Security Forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga,” he said.

“Our end goal in this phase is the regional elimination of ISIS through military force. The military power of the coalition will remain where this fraudulent caliphate has existed in order to set the conditions for a full recovery from the tyranny of ISIS,” he said.

“Under President Trump’s leadership and with the strength of this historic coalition, our common enemy will remain under intense pressure,” he said. Tillerson said the military strength will stop ISIS on a battlefield, but it is the combined strength of the coalition that will be the final blow to ISIS. In order to stay ahead of a global outbreak, the Secretary of State called for adoption of several countermeasures.

According to a statement issued by the U.S Department of State, the International Coalition managed to kill over 180 leaders of the extremist group in both Syria and Iraq since its establishment in 2014, including number of Baghdadi’s deputies. It added, “The coalition launched 19 thousand air raids destroying 2.6 thousand sites related to the extremist group. It also destroyed over 25 treasuries, depriving the extremist group from millions of dollars.”

It added, “Over 1.5 million Iraqi refugees returned to their houses after cleansing their areas from the extremist elements.”

On his hand, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Abadi said on Wednesday his country's victory over ISIS terror group is imminent, confirming the Iraqi forces were about to retake Mosul. Addressing representatives of the 68-member international coalition fighting the so-called Islamic State in Washington, Mr. Abadi said "Iraq has achieved great victories since the alliance previous meeting."

"These victories were achieved by our cooperation and our brave fighting against ISIS terrorists which extended from south of Baghdad to the west, to the north, and our forces are now fighting bravely and heroically in the city of Mosul," he added. He confirmed that all components of the Iraqi spectrum are united in the war against ISIS. 

The organization failed to divide Iraqi citizens, Mr. Abadi said, indicating his government's national reconciliation efforts and steps taken to help the displaced people return. He also confirmed services are returning gradually to liberated areas, despite financial and economic pressure. He called for the reunification of regional efforts to thwart regional conflicts that "led to the emergence of ISIS and other terror groups." He called the international community for describing ISIS and other similar groups as extremist groups.