Iraq's Abadi declares 'end of war' against Daesh

Prime Minister Haider al Abadi on Saturday announced the end of a three-year war by Iraqi forces to drive Daesh out of the country.

"Our forces are in complete control of the Iraqi-Syrian border and I therefore announce the end of the war against Daesh," Abadi told a conference in Baghdad.

"Our enemy wanted to kill our civilisation, but we have won through our unity and our determination. We have triumphed in little time," he said during a conference organised by the Iraqi journalists' union.

Daesh seized vast areas north and west of Baghdad in a lightning offensive in 2014, endangering the very existence of the Iraqi state.

Iraq's fightback was launched with the backing of an air campaign waged by a US-led coalition, recapturing town after town from the clutches of the group.

Combat operations against Daesh have concluded after the Iraqi forces retook control of the country's border with Syria, said Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Rasheed Yar Allah, a senior Iraqi military commander.

"All Iraqi lands are liberated from terrorist Daesh gangs and our forces completely control the international Iraqi-Syrian borders," he said in a statement on Saturday.