Iraq marked eight years since the defeat of ISIS on Wednesday, and the country’s top leaders used the moment to call for accountability, unity and stronger security institutions. But beneath the commemorations sits a quieter truth. The fight against ISIS never fully ended, and the political fractures that shaped the conflict are still very much alive.

Caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani described the 2017 liberation as a moment when Iraqis reclaimed sovereignty and dignity over land that had fallen to ISIS. He singled out the Supreme Religious Authority’s historic fatwa as the turning point that mobilised hundreds of thousands. That call created the wave of volunteer fighters who helped push ISIS out of major cities and break its grip over northern Iraq.

Sudani insisted the state will not allow those responsible for ISIS atrocities to evade justice and urged Iraqis to maintain cohesion if they want lasting stability. President Abdullatif Jamal Rashid echoed the message, honouring the sacrifices of the army, federal police, Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), Peshmerga and tribal fighters. He emphasised the need to reinforce security institutions and protect civilians, framing unity as the only real defence against any future threat.

Qais Al Khazali, who leads Asaib Ahl al Haq, a powerful PMF faction with deep ties to Iran, thanked Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon and what he called “all the honorable and free people” who supported Iraq’s war effort. He used the anniversary to push once again for what he described as a strong and fully sovereign Iraqi state. His comments served as a reminder that while the PMF emerged from Sistani’s fatwa, not all of its components answer to the same authorities or share the same vision for Iraq’s future.

The symbolism of Victory Day runs deep. On December 10, 2017, then prime minister Haider al Abadi declared the country fully liberated after Iraqi and Kurdish forces, backed by a US led coalition, retook the last ISIS held towns in western Anbar. It ended more than three years of brutal fighting that devastated Mosul, displaced millions and left minority communities like Yazidis and Christians shattered. Shiite communities in the north were also targeted as ISIS tried to carve out a so called caliphate through mass kil-lings, kidnappings and terror.

The war cost tens of thousands of lives and pulled in nearly every segment of Iraqi society. The PMF itself was born from Sistani’s emergency call to arms in June 2014 as ISIS swept through Mosul and advanced toward Baghdad. Today the PMF is officially part of the state’s security apparatus, but many of its brigades still act independently and maintain strong relationships with Tehran. That uneasy reality often complicates efforts to build a unified security strategy.

Eight years on, Iraqi and coalition forces continue to conduct counterterrorism raids in both Iraq and Syria, targeting ISIS cells that survive in rural and desert hideouts. The organisation is a shadow of what it was, but intelligence reports repeatedly warn that the conditions for an insurgent resurgence, political division, economic insecurity and weak governance, still exist.

So while officials mark Victory Day with language of closure and pride, the country is still navigating the fallout of a war that reshaped its entire political landscape. The anniversary is a reminder of what was won, but also of everything that remains unresolved.