Story highlights Commander of Iraqi forces in key city announces fighting has ceased

Falluja strategically important; sits only 40 miles from Baghdad

(CNN) A senior Iraqi general has announced on state TV that the battle for Falluja is over as Iraqi troops retook the final ISIS holdout in the city.

Lt. General Abdul Wahab al-Saadi said the city was liberated Sunday after recapturing the neighborhood of al-Jolan from ISIS. It was the last area of Falluja that ISIS had controlled, he said while standing in the neighborhood.

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Over 1,800 ISIS militants were killed during the military operations by the Iraqi forces to recapture the city and villages surrounding it, al-Saadi, commander of the liberation of Falluja operations, told al-Iraqiya TV.

"We announce from the central al-Jolan neighborhood that this neighborhood has been cleaned by the counterterrorism and federal police forces," he said. "From here we announce to Iraqi people that the battle of Falluja is over."

CNN cannot independently verify all fighting in every area of Falluja has ended.

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