Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi vowed Monday to free the whole country from the ISIL terrorist group in 2016, speaking after security forces retook the city of Ramadi.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi vowed Monday to free the whole country from the ISIL terrorist group in 2016, speaking after security forces retook the city of Ramadi.

"If 2015 was a year of liberation, 2016 will be the year of great victories, terminating the presence of ISIL in Iraq and Mesopotamia," he said in a televised address.

"We are coming to liberate Mosul, which will be the fatal blow to ISIL," he said.

Abadi did not make it clear whether Mosul would be the next battle or whether Iraqi forces would seek to retake other towns and cities first.

The prime minister congratulated the security forces on their recapture late Sunday of Ramadi, which they had lost in May following a devastating terrorist onslaught.

The Iraqi army liberated the city of Ramadi in the context of its successive victories against the ISIL militant group.