Welcome to bbc news. The Iraqi Government said today that the city of mosul has been liberated from so called Islamic State, three years after it was first occupied by the extremists. The second largest city in iraq was where is declared its caliphate in 2014. Since then, its grip on territory seen here in red has been gradually reduced in iraq and in syria. In the last nine months its been targeted in mosul by the iraqi army, backed by us and Coalition Air strikes and has lost Ground Street By street. Tonight, the defence secretary sir Michael Fallon congratulated the iraqis and highlighted the role played by the raf. But as our defence correspondent Jonathan Beale has seen in mosul, victory has come at a cost, with an estimated 800,000 civilians driven from their homes. What was once a beautiful old city is now mostly rubble. Every building deeply scarred or destroyed by months of war. We joined the Search And Rescue teams looking for survivors. But more often, they are just recoveri
Welcome to bbc news. The Iraqi Government said today that the city of mosul has been liberated from so called Islamic State, three years after it was first occupied by the extremists. The second largest city in iraq was where is declared its caliphate in 2014. Since then, its grip on territory seen here in red has been gradually reduced in iraq and in syria. In the last nine months its been targeted in mosul by the iraqi army, backed by us and Coalition Air strikes and has lost Ground Street By street. Tonight, the defence secretary sir Michael Fallon congratulated the iraqis and highlighted the role played by the raf. But as our defence correspondent Jonathan Beale has seen in mosul, victory has come at a cost, with an estimated 800,000 civilians driven from their homes. What was once a beautiful old city is now mostly rubble. Every building deeply scarred or destroyed by months of war. We joined the Search And Rescue teams looking for survivors. But more often, they are just recoveri
Bringing the near nine month battle for the city to an end. The Iraqi Military was made to fight for every street. Haider al abadi has been seen walking through mosuls streets, congratulating the troops alongside him. He was expected to make a speech, formally declaring victory, but that has not yet happened. A few hours ago, mr al abadi took to twitter to deliver the news. Iraqi Security Forces have been celebrating on the streets of mosul. Its three years since the Group Calling itself Islamic State seized control of iraqs second largest city. It still holds territory to the west and south of mosul. These images from the old city show the scale of the destruction. Earlier there were reports of continuing clashes, the so called Islamic State group still holds territory to the west and south of mosul. Our Correspondentjonathan Beale reports from the front line. What was once a beautiful old city is now mostly rubble. Every building deeply scarred, or destroyed by months of war. We join
Welcome to bbc news. The Iraqi Government said today that the city of mosul has been liberated from so called Islamic State, three years after it was first occupied by the extremists. The second largest city in iraq was where is declared its caliphate in 2014. Since then, its grip on territory seen here in red has been gradually reduced in iraq and in syria. In the last nine months its been targeted in mosul by the iraqi army, backed by us and Coalition Air strikes and has lost Ground Street By street. Tonight, the defence secretary sir Michael Fallon congratulated the iraqis and highlighted the role played by the raf. But as our defence correspondent Jonathan Beale has seen in mosul, victory has come at a cost, with an estimated 800,000 civilians driven from their homes. What was once a beautiful old city is now mostly rubble. Every building deeply scarred or destroyed by months of war. We joined the Search And Rescue teams looking for survivors. But more often, they are just recoveri
Welcome to bbc news. The Iraqi Government said today that the city of mosul has been liberated from so called Islamic State, three years after it was first occupied by the extremists. The second largest city in iraq was where is declared its caliphate in 2014. Since then, its grip on territory seen here in red has been gradually reduced in iraq and in syria. In the last nine months its been targeted in mosul by the iraqi army, backed by us and Coalition Air strikes and has lost Ground Street By street. Tonight, the defence secretary sir Michael Fallon congratulated the iraqis and highlighted the role played by the raf. But as our defence correspondent Jonathan Beale has seen in mosul, victory has come at a cost, with an estimated 800,000 civilians driven from their homes. What was once a beautiful old city is now mostly rubble. Every building deeply scarred or destroyed by months of war. We joined the Search And Rescue teams looking for survivors. But more often, they are just recoveri