In October 2016, the Iraqi government, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, Shia armed groups and international forces formed a coalition to retake Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The northern Iraqi city had been seized by ISIL in June 2014.



After a nine-month offensive, known as the Battle of Mosul, the coalition successfully retook the city from ISIL. Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi formally declared the city liberated on July 10, 2017. Since July, the offensive against ISIL has continued, with most of northern Iraq clear of the armed group's control.