BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s prime minister says government forces have retaken the northern town of Hawija from Islamic State extremists, one of their last strongholds in Iraq.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in Paris on Thursday that “I want to announce the liberation of the city of Hawija today,” calling it a “victory not just of Iraq but of the whole world.”
He said that the fight against ISIS is now focused on the border zone with Syria.
Retaking Hawija was complicated by political wrangling among Iraq’s disparate security forces, because it is disputed between Baghdad and the northern Kurdish autonomous region.
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