Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Saturday announced the end of a three-year war by Iraqi forces to drive Daesh militants, the so-called Islamic State militant group, out of the country, AFP reported. 

“Our forces are in complete control of the Iraqi-Syrian border and I therefore announce the end of the war against Daesh (IS)," Abadi told a conference in Baghdad.

“Our enemy wanted to kill our civilization, but we have won through our unity and our determination. We have triumphed in little time,” he said.

Deash seized vast areas north and west of Baghdad in a lightning offensive in 2014, endangering the very existence of the Iraqi state.

“I announce the good news: the liberation by Iraqi forces of the whole of the Iraqi-Syrian border,” the prime minister told the conference organized by the Iraqi journalists' union, as mentioned in the AFP report. 

This comes after in November Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani announced the end of Daesh’s self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq and Syria. 

In a speech on national TV, Rouhani said: “Today with God’s guidance and the resistance of people in the region we can say that this evil has either been lifted from the head of the people or has been reduced.” 

“Of course, the remnants will continue but the foundation and roots have been destroyed,” he said.