[RUDAW.NET] With the Islamic State's (ISIS) removal from Mosul imminent the militant's only real base of operations will be the city of Hawija, west of Kirkuk.The militants have retained that enclave to date primarily because Baghdad and its American backer prioritized the Mosul operation. It's presently unclear which forces will remove them when the time comes.
“From what the Iraqi forces have said Hawija might be the last bit of Iraqi territory to be liberated,” Iraq analyst Joel Wing of Musings of Iraq, told Rudaw English. “After Mosul is finished the joint forces will go after Tal Afar then western Anbar, and then Hawija at the very end.”