GettyAfter a nine month offensive by the Iraqi forces and U.S. airstrikes the so-called Islamic State have been defeated in Mosul.
The Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi has arrived in the city to congratulate the army for their victory over the jihadi forces who’ve been living under Daesh since the city fell to them in 2014
In a statement Mr Abadi announced the city’s liberation and declared victory over IS and photos of the jubilant fighters celebrating their victory have hit the web.
GettyThe battle to retake Mosul began late last year and saw the Iraqi army fighting alongside Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, Sunni Arab tribesmen, Shia militiamen with support from the U.S.
An estimated 900,000 people have been displaced from the city since 2014 and thousands attempted to flee the city in recent weeks as fighting intensified.
In January the government announced the full liberation of eastern Mosul, but Iraqi forces have struggled to retake the west of the city with its narrow, winding streets.
GettyEventually the jihadis were reduced to a few remaining pockets of resistance holding out in a small area near the Old City.
The Daesh fighters reportedly resorted to sending women suicide bombers out alongside the thousands of civilians escaping the battlefield in a desperate attempt to maintain their control of the city.
Islamic State fighters had supposedly vowed to fight to the death in Mosul but an Iraqi military spokesman, Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, claimed that 30 militants were killed while attempting to flee the battle by swimming across the River Tigris.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.