With the capture of Hawija, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s last stronghold in northern Iraq, the only area that remains under control of the group in Iraq is a stretch alongside the western border with Syria.
Hawija is close to the oil-city of Kirkuk.
The offensive was carried out by US-backed Iraqi government troops and Iranian-trained and armed Shia paramilitary groups known as Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF).
“The army’s 9th armoured division, the Federal Police, the Emergency Response division and (…) Popular Mobilisation liberated Hawija,” said a statement from the joint operations commander, Lieutenant-General Abdul Ameer Rasheed Yarallah, on Thursday.
Source: Al Jazeera Online
