Iraq prepares for final battle against ISIL terrorists

Iraqi forces are preparing for a final offensive against the Islamic State, which controls the last part of Iraqi territory, the western areas of al-Qaim and Rawa along the Syrian border, the Iraqi army announced today, according to world media, reports the Patria agency.

- Your security forces are coming to liberate you - reads leaflets dropped from planes intended for the civilian population, the statement from the Iraqi army command in Baghdad adds.

ISIS still holds the Syrian part of the mentioned border area, but it is constantly shrinking. Islamists in that area are now facing two enemy armies - the US-backed Kurdish coalition and Syrian army units supported by pro-Iranian Shiite militias and Russia.

The self-proclaimed caliphate of ISIS actually collapsed in July when Iraqi forces, with the help of the US, captured Mosul in a difficult nine-month battle. Last week, ISIS Sunni jihadists also lost Raqqa, their most important stronghold in Syria.

ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who proclaimed the caliphate in Mosul in 2014, announced himself at the end of September, making it known that he was alive, despite some reports of his death. He called on followers to continue fighting despite the difficulties.