A senior Iraqi commander says the city of Fallujah is "fully liberated" from Islamic State militants, after a more than month long military operation.
Iraqi troops have entered the northwestern al-Julan neighbourhood, the last area of Fallujah to remain under IS control, the head of the counterterrorism forces in the operation, Lieutenant General Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi, told The Associated Press on Sunday.
Al-Saadi said the operation, which began in late May, "is done and the city is fully liberated".
The Iraqi army was backed by US-led airstrikes and paramilitary troops, mostly Shiite militias.
He added that troops will start working on removing bombs from the city's streets and buildings.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory in Fallujah over a week ago, after Iraqi forces advanced into the city centre and took control of a government complex.
Source: AFP
He pledged that remaining pockets of IS fighters would be cleared out within hours, but fierce clashes on the city's northern and western edges persisted for days.
Tens of thousands of people have fled the fighting, overwhelming camps for the displaced run by the government and aid groups.
According to the UN refugee agency, more than 85,000 people have fled Fallujah and the surrounding area since the offensive began.
The UNHCR and others have warned of dire conditions in the camps, where temperatures are well over 40 degrees Celsius and shelter is limited, and have called for more funds to meet mounting needs.
Fallujah, which is located about 65 kilometres west of Baghdad, was the first city to fall to IS, in January 2014.
Fallujah was also a stronghold of Sunni insurgents following the US-led invasion in 2003.
More than 100 American soldiers died and hundreds more were wounded in intense, house-by-house fighting in Fallujah in 2004.
IS extremists still control significant areas in northern and western Iraq, including the country's second-largest city, Mosul.
More than 3.3 million Iraqis have fled their homes since IS swept across northern and western Iraq in the summer of 2014, according to UN figures.
More than 40 per cent are from Anbar province, where Fallujah is located.
