Qasim al-Araji was quoted by Alsumaria news channel as saying that Mansourieh Mountain district, which was the ISIL’s last stronghold in the province, has completely been cleansed of the Takfiri militants following a major military operation.
He also emphasized that the Iraqi security forces have launched a massive manhunt for the ISIL elements as part of efforts to make the district safe for the return of the displaced residents to their homes.
Iraq has been facing the growing threat of terrorism, mainly posed by the ISIL terrorist group.
The ISIL militants made swift advances in much of northern and western Iraq over the summer, after capturing large swaths of northern Syria.
However, a combination of concentrated attacks by the Iraqi military and the volunteer forces, who rushed to take arms after top Iraqi cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa calling for fight against the militants, have blunted the edge of the ISIL offensive.