Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi vowed today to free the whole country from the Islamic State group in 2016, speaking after security forces retook the city of Ramadi from the terrorists.

"If 2015 was a year of liberation, 2016 will be the year of great victories, terminating the presence of IS in Iraq," he said.

"We are coming to liberate Mosul, which will be the fatal blow to Daesh (IS)," he said.

The prime minister congratulated the security forces on their recapture late yesterday of Ramadi, which they had lost in May.