Politics
17:30, 11-Nov-2017
Iraqi forces launch offensive to recapture last town in ISIL control
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Iraqi forces launched an offensive on Saturday to recapture Rawa, the last remaining town under ISIL control, leaving the group's self-proclaimed caliphate on the verge of complete defeat.
The capture of the town would mark the end of ISIL's era of territorial rule over a so-called caliphate that it proclaimed in 2014 across vast swathes of area in Iraq and Syria.
Syria's army declared victory over the militants on Thursday, after seizing the last substantial town on the border with Iraq.
The army and its allies were still fighting ISIL in desert areas near Abu Kamal, the last town the extremist group had held in Syria.
Two Iraqi infantry divisions and Sunni tribal forces are participating in the offensive to recapture the small town of Rawa and its surrounding areas along the border with Syria, the Joint Operations Command said in a statement.
Last week, Iraqi forces recaptured the larger town of al-Qaim, in what Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called "record time," leaving just a few small pockets of land in ISIL's hands.
Iraq has been carrying out its final campaign to crush the ISIL caliphate while also mounting a military offensive in the north against the Kurds who held an independence referendum in September.
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Source(s): Reuters