Battle of Hawija
The Battle of Hawija was an offensive launched in September 2017 by the Iraqi Army, in order to recapture the town of Hawija and the surrounding areas from the ISIS. The offensive was concurrent with the 2017 Central Syria campaign by the Syrian Army to capture IS territory towards Deir ez-Zor, as well as with the Raqqa campaign (2016–17) conducted by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against IS's de facto capital city and stronghold in Syria. == Background == Hawija, which is located 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of Kirkuk city, had been a bastion of Sunni Arab insurgents since the United States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.