Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has congratulated Iraqi fighters on “this big victory in Mosul” even as fighting continues in Mosul's Old City neighborhood where Iraqi forces are about 250 meters from the Tigris River and facing increasingly brutal resistance.
Al-Abadi spoke during a press conference in Baghdad on Wednesday, less than a week after he declared an end to ISIS' self- styled caliphate after Iraqi forces achieved an incremental win by retaking the landmark al-Nuri Mosque in the Old City.