IRAQ/SYRIA (September 16, 2017)- Iraqi forces launched an offensive against the Islamic State (IS) on Saturday at the border with Syria. The push is intended to pave the way for the reconquest of the last remaining extremist cities in the valley of the Euphrates. On the Syrian side of the border the IS is under massive pressure, too.
In separate missions, USA backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and soldiers of President Bashar al-Assad had advanced towards the areas held by Islamic militia. The aim of the offensive is to expel IS north and east of the Euphrates.
The caliphate proclaimed by the extremists in Iraq and Syria in 2014 has in fact already gone down in July with the recapture of the Iraqi city of Mossul. The cities in the border region with Syria and the northern province of Hawija are the last IS-controlled centres in Iraq.
