Iraq PM vows elimination of Daesh this year

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says his government is determined to bring an end to the existence of Takfiri Daesh terrorists in the country this year.

"We intend this year to make it the final year and the last year for the existence of Daesh in Iraq," al-Abadi told a security conference in Germany on Friday.

"The area we have liberated so far is more than half of what was occupied by Daesh before," he added.

In the latest gain by Baghdad, Iraqi forces on Tuesday recaptured several areas from Daesh, including a strategic road that connects the western city of Ramadi to a military base in the capital Baghdad.

The army units also liberated several other militant-held areas, including the town of Husaiba al-Sharqiya, about 10 kilometers east of Ramadi.

Ramadi, the provincial capital west of Baghdad, was released in December, almost one year after it fell into the hands of Daesh in 2014.

SS