Mosul liberated after nine-month battle with Islamic State

Iraq's Prime Minister announced yesterday that Mosul has been recaptured from Islamic State militants after a gruelling nine-month battle.

Haider al-Abadi travelled to the city to congratulate "the heroic fighters and the Iraqi people on the achievement of the major victory".

However, small pockets of fighting continued after his announcement, the Washington Post reports.

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Iraqi soldiers fought to free the city alongside Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, Sunni Arab tribesmen and Shia militiamen, with air support provided by the US-led coalition. Mosul has been under IS rule since 2014

The announcement marks "the formal end" of a bloody campaign that has left much of the Iraq's second-largest city in ruins, killed thousands of people and displaced nearly a million more, says the New York Times.

Alan Johnston of the BBC says Iraq army has finally avenged its "humiliating defeat" by IS militants three years ago. "But victory has come at a terrible cost."

Survivors have been without food, water or medical supplies for weeks, Al Jazeera's Charles Stratford reports. "Many of them are malnourished and seriously dehydrated," he says. "Very many of them are deeply traumatised by the months they've spent hiding in their homes."

Schools, hospitals, and mosques have been destroyed by the relentless bombing campaign and the UN estimates it will cost the government more than $1bn (£776m) to repair basic infrastructure.

While the loss of Mosul is a major blow to the militant group, "we should not view [it] as the death knell for IS", says Patrick Martin, Iraq analyst at the Institute for the Study of War.

The group is still in control of smaller cities and towns in Iraq, as well as larger territories in Syria.

"Iraqis expect an increase in terror attacks in urban centers, especially in the capital, Baghdad, as the group reverts to its insurgent roots," the New York Times reports.

There is also the fear that many IS fighters who were not captured or killed have "simply put down their guns" and blended in with the civilian population, the newspaper adds.

Zuhair Hazim al-Jibouri, a member of Mosul's local council, warned: "Most of the IS fighters have shaved their beards and took off their clothes and now they are free."