Celebrating the biggest victory inflicted on Islamic State since it rampaged through northern Iraq three years ago.
A parade in Baghdad on Saturday after Iraq’s military drove IS out of its stronghold Mosul.
Troops from the army, police and paramilitary forces taking part in the parade – watched by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
He’s back from Mosul where on Monday he declared victory over the militant group, saying that Iraqis had made sacrifices with their blood in order to consign IS to the trash heap of history.
The stench of corpses in the streets of Mosul a grisly reminder of the nearly nine months of urban warfare it has taken to dislodge the jihadists.
Around 900,000 people fled the fighting in Mosul, with more than a third sheltering in camps outside the city.
Civilians have been quickly returning to Iraq’s second biggest city.
Work is underway to repair homes and infrastructure – something the United Nations estimates will cost in the region of one billion dollars.
