Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi Announces 'the end of the war ' against the Islamic State (IS)

Iraq's  Prime Minister has announced 'the end of the war' against the Islamic State Group in his country.

Speaking at a conference in Baghdad, Haider al-Abadi said his forces had regained control of the border with Syria

'Our forces are in complete control of the Iraqi-Syrian border and I therefore announce the end of the war against Daesh (IS),' Abadi said.

'Our enemy wanted to kill our civilisation, but we have won through our unity and our determination. We have triumphed in little time,' he said.

IS seized vast areas north and west of Baghdad in a lightning offensive in 2014, endangering the very existence of the Iraqi state.

Iraq's fightback was launched with the backing of an air campaign waged by a US-led coalition, recapturing town after town from the clutches of the jihadists.

'I announce the good news: the liberation by Iraqi forces of the whole of the Iraqi-Syrian border,' the prime minister told the conference organised by the Iraqi journalists' union

A separate statement from military commander Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Rasheed Yar Allah said 'all Iraqi lands are liberated from terrorist Daesh gangs and our forces completely control the international Iraqi-Syrian borders.'