Iraqi Army Retakes Last ISIS-Controlled City in the Country

The Iraqi army announced in an official statement on Friday, November 17, that it has retaken the small city of Rawa in the northwest of the country, the last city under the control of the Islamic State group in Iraq. Reuters reported that the retaking of Rawa signifies the 'end of the self-proclaimed caliphate of ISIS over this land.' An army spokesperson also stated that with the complete recapture of Rawa, it can be said that ISIS has completely lost its controlled areas in Iraq. The liberation of Rawa comes about two weeks after the liberation of Al-Qaim, which was considered the last significant ISIS stronghold in Iraq. Rawa and Al-Qaim, both located in Anbar province, were among the first areas to be seized by the Islamic State group in 2014. These two cities are located on the map opposite the Deir ez-Zor province in Syria, much of which has recently been liberated from ISIS control. Haider al-Abadi, the Prime Minister of Iraq, congratulated the people and the army of Iraq on this victory, achieved 'in just a few hours,' in a special message marking the liberation of Rawa. The retaking of Rawa marks a new chapter in the record of defeats for the Islamic State group, which began last summer with the liberation of Mosul. Mosul is the city from which this group declared its existence and caliphate in 2014. Since then, in just five months, the Islamic State group has lost one important city after another. Raqqa in Syria, the group's capital, was liberated at the end of October by U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish and Arab forces, marking another significant development in the destruction of ISIS. At the end of September, the Iraqi army also announced that it had pushed ISIS forces back from the border area with Syria located west of the Euphrates River, and the city of Akashat in western Anbar province was completely captured by Iraqi forces. In the Anbar province of northwestern Iraq, bordering Deir ez-Zor in Syria, only two cities, Al-Qaim and Rawa, remained under ISIS control, both of which have now been liberated within a few weeks.