(CNN) US Secretary of Defense James Mattis, on a whistlestop tour of Iraq, said the defeat of ISIS is now imminent and he is confident US-backed Iraqi forces will finish off fighters in their last remaining strongholds in the country.

"ISIS is on the run and they have been shown to be unable to stand up to our team, have not retaken one inch of ground," he told reporters during a briefing in Bagdhad.

Iraqi forces, backed by Shiite fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces, advance towards the Iraqi city of Tal Afar

"A year ago the liberation of Mosul was just some ideas and lines in paper, the liberation of Raqqa was not even that," said Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of the Combined Joint Task Force in Iraq.

"This week saw the start of Tal Afar after the hard-won victory in Mosul. We've seen our Iraqi partners quickly refit and transition their force into a new defensive in Tal Afar. In Syria we're in our third month to defeat ISIS. Daesh's defeat is inevitable. They are surrounded and cut off but their cruelty continues to shine through as they hide among women and children," he said.

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