Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider Abadi declared victory on Thursday as he announced the complete liberation of Tal Afar city and Nineveh province from ISIL Takfiri terrorists.

“I announce that the steadfast Tal Afar has joined the liberated Mosul and returned to the fold of the nation,” Abadi said in a statement, as cited by Iraqi media.

“We have crushed ISIL terrorists in al-Ayadiya and other areas (in Tal Afar),” the Iraqi PM added.

Tal Afar is a strategically important city in northwestern Iraq that lies near the border with Syria. After the fall of Mosul, Tal Afar became ISIL’s last stronghold in the war-plagued country.

The city was seized by militants in 2014. Before the seizure, it was home to 750,000 people.