Islamic State driven out of stronghold in northern Iraq

PARIS » Iraq’s prime minister said Thursday that troops have retaken the northern town of Hawija from the Islamic State group, driving the extremists from one of their last strongholds in the country.

Haider al-Abadi declared victory during a press conference in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron, who offered to help mediate between Iraq’s government and the autonomous Kurdish region, which voted for independence last week in a move that was rejected by Baghdad and neighboring Turkey and Iran.

“I want to announce the liberation of the city of Hawija today,” al-Abadi said, calling it a “victory not just for Iraq but for the whole world.”

Iraqi forces have driven IS from nearly all the cities and towns it seized in the summer of 2014, including the country’s second largest city, Mosul, which was liberated in July. The extremists are now mainly concentrated in a region straddling the Iraqi-Syrian border, and still control a cluster of towns in the far west of Iraq’s sprawling Anbar province.

Iraqi officials often declare victory before the fighting has completely ended, and the troops in and around Hawija were likely still clearing mines and booby traps, and flushing out remaining militants. Iraqi forces had launched the operation to retake the town, which lies 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Baghdad, late last month.

Even as it drives the extremists from their last remaining pockets of territory, Iraq faces a new challenge in the form of a growing Kurdish push for independence. More than 90 percent of Kurds voted in favor of independence in a referendum last month that was rejected as illegal by the Baghdad government as well as Iraq’s neighbors.

Iraq has responded to the vote by imposing a flight ban on the northern region, while Turkey and Iran have sent troops to the land-locked region’s borders to signal their opposition to any redrawing of the map.

Macron said France and others are concerned about the escalating dispute. He said France supports the territorial integrity of Iraq and called for “national reconciliation and inclusive governance,” noting France’s close ties to the Kurds.

He said dialogue “is the only path” out of the crisis, and said France is ready “to contribute actively to mediation.”