The Iraqi army said it has completely surrounded fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in Mosul as it continues to make gains in its final push to retake the city. According to the military, federal police units recaptured the last bridge over the Tigris River on Saturday, effectively cutting off ISIL’s last remaining escape route. “Daesh now holds control over a few small residential areas. Iraqi forces are advancing into the Old City,” Yahia Rasoul, Iraqi joint forces spokesman, told state-run TV on Saturday, using the Arabic acronym for ISIL, also known as ISIS. The latest developments come two days after Haider al-Abadi, Iraq’s prime minister, declared that ISIL’s “state of falsehood” had ended after Iraqi forces retook al-Nuri Mosque where the group proclaimed its self-styled caliphate three years ago.
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