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MOSUL, Iraq, May 29-- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Monday that Iraqi forces are in the last stages of defeating Islamic State (IS) militants in the remaining neighborhoods of the western side of Mosul. Abadi made his comments during a visit to the battleground in western Mosul, where he met with the commanders of the Iraqi security forces and the leaders of the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units. "The enemy (IS group) is in a state of collapse and cannot achieve any of its goals in Mosul, which once they considered their capital," Abadi said in a televised speech during his meeting with the commanders and fighters of the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS). According to Abadi, the security forces have freed about 95 percent of Mosul. "The life is returning normal on the left bank of Mosul (eastern side of Mosul) and on the right bank (western side) most of it has been freed. We will soon declare full liberation of the city," he said. Abadi also hailed the latest advance of the Hashd Shaabi units to the border with Syria and their liberation of many towns and villages, including villages of Yazidi minority who were brutally attacked by the extremist IS militants. "These days, the Hashd Shaabi freed large areas, including areas of Iraqi Yazidis seized by the criminal Daesh (IS group), who killed the citizens and kidnapped their women," Abadi said. "It is a matter of time and we will return those Yazidi families to their places," he promised. | 
