Statement by the EU High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini and Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid & Crisis Management Christos Stylianides following the liberation of Mosul

Background
In June 2014, ISIL/Da'esh took over the city of Mosul in Iraq, and from there declared the advent of an Islamic State. Three years later, in July 2017, after nine months of battle involving Iraqi security forces, popular militias and Kurdish troops, ISIL/Da'esh were expelled from its Iraqi stronghold, adding to the past two years' severe territorial losses. This is an important victory; however, it did not yet represent the eradication of a terrorist group that still had many supportersOn 9 July 2017 the EU High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini and Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid & Crisis Management Christos Stylianides released a statement following the liberation of Mosul.

Euro|Topics: Debates, July 2017: Mossul: liberated but not pacified http://www.eurotopics.net/en/182308/mossul-liberated-but-not-pacified

Wikipedia: Battle of Mosul (2016–17) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mosul_(2016%E2%80%9317)

Al Jazeera: Tag: Battle for Mosul http://www.aljazeera.com/topics/events/battle-mosul.html

Deutsche Welle: Tag: Mosul http://www.dw.com/search/en?languageCode=en&origin=gN&item=Mosul&searchNavigationId=9097

EU: EEAS: Iraq and the EU https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage_en/690/Iraq%20and%20the%20EU

EP: EPRS: At a Glance, July 2017: ISIL/Da'esh: From Mosul to Mosul http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2017/608641/EPRS_ATA(2017)608641_EN.pdf

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