Iraq PM vows to defeat Islamic State group by end of 2016

February 12, 2016 22:46

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi vowed today to drive the Islamic State group out of his country by the end of the year.

"We intend this year to make it the final year for the existence of Daesh in Iraq," he told an audience at the Munich Security Conference, using the Arabic acronym for IS, also called ISIS and ISIL.

"The area we have liberated so far is more than half of what was occupied by Daesh before. Now we have almost all governorates liberated from Daesh apart from Nineveh and part of al-Anbar."

Abadi said there had been major improvements to the quality of the Iraqi army since the early days of the IS advance in 2014, when many troops abandoned their equipment and fled battles against the jihadists.

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