BEIJING, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi arrived in the liberated Mosul Sunday, hailing the high spirit of both Iraqi forces and the Mosul people for their significant victory in driving out terrorists of the Islamic State (IS).
Mosul, the capital city of Iraq's northern province of Nineveh and the second largest Iraqi city, located some 400 km north of Iraq's capital city of Baghdad, came under IS control after June 2014.
It was in Mosul that IS leader Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the establishment of the IS, a caliphate in Iraq and Syria. Mosul's population and urban size far exceeded that of al-Raqqah, the de facto capital of the IS group.
Mosul is well equipped both in agriculture and industry. Its high oil production and tax revenue once provided the IS group with enormous source of income.
Located near the Syria-Turkey border, Mosul enjoys an exceptional geographical advantage. Connected with the IS-controlled section in northern Syria, its expansive western deserts offered the extremists a wide range of space to operate throughout the two countries.
Mosul also has a symbolic value, as it was the place where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the cross-border "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria in his sole public appearance in July 2014.
After two years of anti-terror war, large stretches of Saladdin and Anbar provinces were successively recaptured by Iraqi forces. After the fight to retake Anbar's heartland Fallujah from the IS, Iraqi forces spearheaded the next attack on Mosul -- the IS group's last base in Iraq.
After months of preparation, Al-Abadi, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi armed forces, announced on Oct. 17 a wide-scale military offensive to recapture Mosul and the surrounding areas.
Backed by airstrikes of the international coalition, the Iraqi military, Kurdish groups, as well as paramilitary forces such as Shiite and Sunni militia, all took part in the multi-directional offensive against Mosul's eastern suburban areas, which made rapid progress.
The city's eastern half was declared liberated on Jan. 24, and after nearly a month of rest and reorganization, the armed forces on Feb. 19 announced a new operation to drive IS militants out of the western part of Mosul.
Then after four months of fierce battles, in early May, Al-Abadi said Iraqi forces had entered the last stages of defeating IS militants in western Mosul, as the reinforcement had opened western and northern fronts in the city and had recaptured numbers of blocks.
Iraqi forces launched their final push from multiple directions on June 18 to drive out IS militants from the old city of Mosul, leading off an attack on their last base area.
On June 21, the IS bombed its landmark al-Nuri mosque as Iraqi forces were pushing closer. "Blowing up the al-Nuri mosque and the al-Hadba minaret is an official declaration of defeat by the Islamic State," Al-Abadi said in a statement issued by his office.
On June 29, the capture of the historic al-Nuri mosque in the old city of Mosul actually marked the end of the IS in Iraq.
