The Latest: Clashes in Mosul after Iraq's 'victory' over IS
BAGHDAD (AP) - Sporadic clashes erupted in Mosul a day after Iraq's prime minister declared "total victory" over the Islamic State group, with several airstrikes hitting the Old City neighborhood that was the scene of the fierce battle's final days.
Plumes of smoke rose into the air Tuesday as IS mortar shells landed near Iraqi positions, and heavy gunfire could be heard on the western edge of the Old City.
Iraqi forces say they've regained full control of Mosul, the country's second-largest city, three years after it was seized by extremists bent on building a global caliphate.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International warned in a report released Tuesday that the conflict in Mosul has created a "civilian catastrophe," with the extremists carrying out forced displacement, summary killings and using civilians as human shields.
The report also detailed violations by Iraqi forces and the U.S.-led coalition.
2:45 p.m.
A female Sunni lawmaker in Iraq says that uprooting Islamic State group's ideology is the key for a peaceful future in Mosul, which reeled under the extremists' harsh rule for three years.
Lawmaker Intisar al-Jabouri from Nineveh province where Mosul is the capital, said on Tuesday that rebuilding the city "must start with the extraction of Daesh extremism ideology and the mental contamination that hit Nineveh residents."
Daesh is the Arabic acronym for IS.
Al-Jabouri says the local government and Baghdad should invest in "good relations" between the residents and the security forces and take all "necessary measures to prevent terrorism groups from returning to Mosul in order to give it an opportunity for peaceful coexistence."
Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared "total victory" in Mosul on Monday, after a nearly nine-month-long battle with IS fighters.
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12:40 p.m.
Lebanon's Foreign Ministry has welcomed the liberation of the city of Mosul from the Islamic State group as a "great victory" for the Iraqi people.
The ministry called for intensified regional efforts to contain the spread of terrorism "from one nest to another."
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has backed Iraqi special forces and the Shiite-led militias known as Popular Mobilization Committee in the battle for Mosul. Hezbollah has its own weapons and militia and operates independently of the Lebanese government. Most of its support comes from Iran, which also sponsors the Shiite militias in Iraq.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani in a statement last week singled out Hezbollah for praise for its alleged assistance in Mosul.
Lebanon has battled pockets of the Islamic State group within its own borders. The IS, along with al-Qaida militants, briefly seized a town along the Lebanese-Syrian border in 2014.
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12:35 p.m.
An Iraqi Shiite politician has warned that defeating the Islamic State group in Mosul doesn't mean that "terrorism" is finished and is urging the government to review its policies for dealing with Sunni areas of the country.
Karim al-Nouri, a senior member of Badr Organization, said on Tuesday the government "must avoid previous mistakes that led to the emergence of Daesh and work on removing fears of marginalization and terrorism affiliation in Sunni areas."
Daesh is the Arabic acronym for IS.
Al-Nouri also says he believes Iraqi security forces should stay in Mosul until the city is fully secure before handing it over to local forces. He adds the next stage should focus on intelligence efforts rather than waging military operations.
Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared "total victory" in Mosul on Monday, after a nearly nine-month-long battle with IS fighters.
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11:20 a.m.
The U.N. human rights chief is urging Iraq's government to ensure that human rights will be respected in Mosul after the city was recaptured from the militant Islamic State group.
Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein on Tuesday highlighted Mosul's fall as the "turning point" in the conflict against IS, but warned the group continues to subject people to "daily horrors" in its remaining strongholds such as Tal Afar and Hawijah.
He says that "horrific though the crimes of ISIL are, there is no place for vengeance." ISIL is an alternative acronym for the Islamic State group.
Zeid, who is a Jordanian prince, cited allegations of threats of collective punishment and forced evictions in Mosul by Iraqi security forces and their allies.
Zeid also cited three years of rights violations during IS' control of Mosul, including abuses like sexual slavery of women and girls that "have left deep scars on Iraqi society."
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9:30 a.m.
Sporadic clashes are continuing in Mosul, even after Iraq declared a "total victory" over the Islamic State group in the city.
At least one airstrike hit the Old City, the scene of fierce final battles with IS, sending a plume of smoke into the air on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International released a report saying that the conflict in Mosul has created a "civilian catastrophe," with the extremists carrying out forced displacement, summary killings and the use of human shields
Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the "total victory" in Mosul on Monday evening - after a nearly nine-month-long battle with IS fighters.
The fight dealt a huge blow to IS' so-called territorial caliphate, but also killed thousands, left entire neighborhoods in ruins and displaced nearly 900,000 from their homes.