Baghdad : Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi expected the Islamic State militants in Iraq will be completely defeated this year.
In a televised press conference on Tuesday Abadi hailed the victories of the Iraqi security forces against IS group, especially in the last offensive in Hawijah Pocket in the western part of Iraq’s ethnically mixed province of Kirkuk, Xinhua news agency reported. As for the referendum crisis with the Kurdish semi-autonomous region, Abadi reaffirmed Baghdad’s stance “not to discuss the referendum with anyone or negotiate before it is cancelled.”
