World leaders congratulate Iraqi Prime minister

Saudi Arabia says the achievement is a big victory against terrorism in the region and the United Kingdom applauded Iraq's security forces "for their courage and sacrifice."

Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory in the more than three year fight against Islamic State in a national address aired on Iraqi state television Saturday evening. Sunday was an official holiday in Iraq.

A military parade attended by al-Abadi was held inside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, a district that houses most of Iraq's government buildings and foreign embassies. In the evening, the capital's skies filled with fireworks.

"Daesh no longer hold significant territory in Iraq or Syria," United Kingdom prime minister Theresa May said according to an official statement released by her office. "This signals a new chapter towards a more peaceful, prosperous country." In Saudi Arabia's statement on Sunday, the kingdom reiterated Saudi support for Iraq.

Several thousand Saudis are believed to have joined the ranks of Sunni extremist groups to fight in Iraq and Syria. However, the kingdom has also been a target of multiple attacks claimed by Islamic State and carried out by local affiliates. The top US-led coalition commander US Lt Gen Paul E Funk II pledged that coalition forces would continue to support Iraq after the conventional military fight against Islamic State is concluded.

"Much work remains, and we will continue to work by, with and through our Iraqi partners to ensure the enduring defeat of Daesh and prevent its ability to threaten civilisation, regionally and globally," Funk said in a statement released by the coalition Sunday. Daesh is an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

On military side, Two people were injured in a bomb attack in Baghdad on Monday, a security source told Alghad Press. “Unidentified gunmen hurled a bomb at a house in al-Shu’ala neighborhood in Baghdad, injuring two people,” the source said.

The injured were taken to a nearby hospital and a probe was launched into the attack, the source added. Earlier in the day, Iraqi security forces seized 18 mortar shells and defused seven bombs in Baghdad. Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

The surge in violence between armed groups and government forces has resulted in over 3 million internally displaced persons across Iraq and left more than 11 million in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

A total of 117 Iraqi civilians were killed and another 264 injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in November, according to casualty figures recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

Of those figures, Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate, with 201 civilian casualties (51 killed, 150 injured). Salahaddin Governorate followed, with 24 killed and 60 injured, and Kirkuk had 12 killed and 28 injured.

In the same context, Severn Islamic State members were killed in a security operation in west of Ramadi, Anbar, a senior paramilitary official said on Monday.

“Joint troops of army’s seventh division and tribes carried out an operation in the desert, north of Baghdadi town, west of Anbar,” Qutri al-Obeidi, a leader with al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces), told AlSumaria News.

“The troops managed to kill seven IS militants, who were hiding inside a rest house near al-Saridiya village,”Obeidi added. Troops resume military operations to purge the Anbar desert from remaining IS members.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced on Saturday full liberation of Iraqi lands, declaring end of war against IS members. Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary troops, have been fighting since October 2016 to retake territories Islamic State had occupied. Abadi’s declaration came after Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Yarallah, commander of Upper Euphrates and Jazirah Combing Operations, announced liberation of all Iraqi lands from IS.

In November, Abadi said his country has defeated Islamic State over the military level, but will declare final victory after desert areas are purged of militants. Earlier in the month, Iraqi forces recaptured Anbar’s western town of Rawa, the very last bastion under Islamic State control.