A senior Iraqi commander has claimed the city of Fallujah had been completely liberated from members of the Islamic State (Isis/Daesh) terror group. Lt. Gen. Abdul-Wahad al-Saadi, head of the counter-terrorism forces in the military operation, told AP news agency troops entered the north-western al-Julan neighborhood, the last area still under IS control.

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"[The operation] is done and the city is fully liberated," he continued. The claim came as Iraqi troops have been fighting IS militants in their stronghold in Fallujah, in Anbar province, since May.

The city has been under the terrorists' control since January 2014.

The military offensive has driven terrorists out from most of the territories they previously controlled and has resulted in the arrest of hundreds of militants.

The military fight has also prompted hundreds of IS militants to flee the city amid reports they were disguising themselves as refugees as they tried to leave.

Iraqi forces have been screening men and teenage boys leaving Fallujah, while the Iraqi military confirmed some of the militants were also posing as female refugees to get out of Fallujah.

Islamic State Isis Iraq