The liberation of the last of the so-called Islamic State’s territory in Syria has been hailed by British politicians as a historic achievement, but they warned the threat from the terror group remains.

Prime Minister Theresa May praised the “extraordinary courage” of the UK armed forces and their allies.

And Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt vowed Britain will “remain resolute” in its commitment against the group, also known as Daesh, and its “poisonous ideology”.

The liberation of the last Daesh-held territory wouldn’t have been possible without the immense courage of UK military and our allies. We will continue to do what is necessary to protect the British people, our Allies and partners from the threat Daesh poses. — Theresa May (@theresa_may) March 23, 2019

Major General Chris Ghika, Deputy Commander of the Global Coalition’s joint task force, said the terror organisation is by no means “leaderless or rudderless”, despite its loss of physical territory.

But he said he could not predict whether the fall of the physical territory would substantially increase or decrease the terror risk to the UK.

The capture of Baghouz is a milestone in the four-year campaign to defeat the group’s so-called “caliphate” that once covered a vast territory straddling both Syria and Iraq.

Syrian Democratic Forces declare total elimination of so-called caliphate and %100 territorial defeat of ISIS. On this unique day, we commemorate thousands of martyrs whose efforts made the victory possible. #SDFDefeatedISIS — Mustafa Bali (@mustefabali) March 23, 2019

It was announced on Saturday by Mustafa Bali, from the Syrian Democratic Forces, who tweeted: “Syrian Democratic Forces declare total elimination of so-called caliphate and %100 territorial defeat of Isis.

“On this unique day, we commemorate thousands of martyrs whose efforts made the victory possible. #SDFDefeatedISIS”

Mrs May tweeted: “The liberation of the last Daesh-held territory wouldn’t have been possible without the immense courage of UK military and our allies.

“We will continue to do what is necessary to protect the British people, our Allies and partners from the threat Daesh poses.”

She said the Government remained committed to “eradicating” Daesh’s “poisonous ideology”.

Today’s liberation of Daesh’s last territory in Syria is a historic achievement. But the fight is NOT over. We remain resolute in our commitment to tackle the real threat Daesh & its poisonous ideology poses to people in Iraq, Syria & around the world — Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) March 23, 2019

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt wrote: “Today’s liberation of Daesh’s last territory in Syria is a historic achievement. But the fight is NOT over.

“We remain resolute in our commitment to tackle the real threat Daesh & its poisonous ideology poses to people in Iraq, Syria & around the world.”

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Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said it had been a long campaign to end the “misery of millions”.

He added: “Due to the tireless efforts of our service personnel, we have been able to beat them back, depriving them of territory and making sure that Britain is safer.

“But we cannot be complacent. They’ve dispersed, and they’ll continue to pose a threat to Britain, and that is why we will always remain vigilant.”

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