The Iraqi army says it has completely surrounded fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/ISIS) group in Mosul as it continues to make gains in its final push to retake the city.

According to the military, federal police units recaptured the last bridge over the Tigris River on Saturday, effectively cutting off ISIL's last remaining escape route.

US-backed Iraqi troops also recaptured a number of neighbourhoods in the Old City.

"Daesh now holds control over a few small residential areas. Iraqi forces are advancing into the Old City," Yahia Rasoul, Iraqi joint forces spokesman, told state-run TV on Saturday, using the Arabic acronym for ISIL, also known as ISIS.

According to him, "victory in the western part [of the city] will be announced soon".

The latest developments come two days after Haider al-Abadi, Iraq's pime minister, declared that ISIL's "state of falsehood" had ended after Iraqi forces retook al-Nuri Mosque where the group proclaimed its self-styled caliphate three years ago.

More at Al Jazeera.