Iraqi forces fully liberated the city of Fallujah and the month-long military operations are now suspended following the recapture of all its areas, Prime Minister Haider al-Abbadi announced Sunday (June 26th).

"The liberation of Fallujah has been achieved at the hands of Iraqis," al-Abbadi said in a televised speech.

"This is joy for all Iraqis and it is the right of all Iraqi people to celebrate the retaking of Fallujah," he said.

"We will soon enter Mosul, as we entered Fallujah, and the 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) will not have any future in Iraq," al-Abbadi added.

Victory came when elite forces retook al-Jolan, a north-western neighbourhood of Fallujah where the last holdout extremists were holed up.

It did not take more than two hours for the counter terrorism agency forces to retake al-Jolan, agency spokesman Sabah al-Noman told AFP.

"ISIL did not fire a single bullet," he said.

The group has lost several key leaders in airstrikes, and more than two-thirds of the territory it controlled in Iraq two years ago.

Lt. Gen. Abdelwahab al-Saadi, commander for the Fallujah operation, said limited damage had been caused to the city by the fighting.

However, some 85,000 civilians were forced to flee their homes in the past month, with many crammed in hastily set-up camps with scant food or water, according to the UN.

Al-Abbadi said he hoped the displaced could return to their homes soon, but the UN warned the government should proceed with caution.