Theresa May warns ISIL is 'not yet defeated'

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British Prime Minister Theresa May on Saturday congratulated her Iraqi counterpart Haider al-Abadi over the victory against ISIL, but warned the terrorist group is "not yet defeated."

Extremists "still pose a threat to Iraq, including from over the Syrian border", May said in a statement after the Iraqi prime minister announced the end of the fight against the extremist group earlier on Saturday.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at a news conference at the EC headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, December 8, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Abadi said ISIL no longer occupies significant territory in Iraq, and the fight against it was over after more than three years of operations.

"I congratulate Prime Minister Abadi and all Iraqis on this historic moment," May said. "This signals a new chapter towards a more peaceful, prosperous country."

"We must be clear however, that whilst Da'esh (ISIL) is failing, they are not yet defeated," she said. "They still pose a threat to Iraq, including from over the Syrian border."

US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert on Saturday also hailed the Iraqi government's earlier announcement of the full liberation of the country's territory from the control of ISIL militants.

US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert. /Reuters Photo

Nauert said in a statement that Washington applauds the "courageous three-year campaign of intense fighting" led by Abadi and offers sincere congratulations to the Iraqi people and government forces.

The announcement "signals the last remnants of ISIL's self-proclaimed 'caliphate' in Iraq have been erased and the people living in those areas have been freed" from ISIL's control.

She stressed that Iraq's liberation does not mean the fight against terrorism in the country is over, and the United States will continue to advise, train and equip the Iraqi government troops, so as to prevent the return of ISIL or the emergence of other terrorist groups.

Iraqi forces mopped up the last pockets of ISIL fighters from Iraq's western deserts on Saturday, securing the country's border with Syria, a step that marked the end of military operations against the extremists in the country.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi delivers a speech in Baghdad, Iraq,, December 9, 2017. /Reuters Photo

ISIL rapidly captured large territories in Iraq and Syria and declared a "caliphate" in 2014. In its heyday, the group controlled more than 34,000 square miles of territory from the Mediterranean coast to south of Baghdad.

The campaign to eradicate the group took more than three years and about 25,000 coalition air strikes. Iraqi forces have increasingly been pushing ISIL out of the country over the past few months.

Troops last month retook the town of Rawa, one of ISIL's last footholds in the country. At that point, only pockets of ISIL resistance remained.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency