Iraqi Forces Launch Assault on Last IS Bastion

Iraqi forces have launched an offensive to recapture the last bastion of so-called Islamic State in the country.

Soldiers, police, Sunni tribesmen and mostly Shia paramilitary fighters are taking part in the assault on al-Qaim and Rawa, in the Euphrates river valley close to the border with Syria.

The prime minister told IS militants to "choose between death and surrender".

The jihadists still control part of the Euphrates valley in the neighbouring Syrian province of Deir al-Zour.

But they are under pressure there from Syrian pro-government forces and a US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters who recently took the city of Raqqa.

"The heroic legions are advancing into the last den of terrorism in Iraq to liberate al-Qaim, Rawa and the surrounding villages and hamlets," Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a statement on Thursday morning.

"They will all return to the arms of the motherland thanks to the determination and endurance of our fighting heroes," he added.

Later, military commander Lt Gen Abdul Amir Yarallah said they had already cleared the village of Umm al-Waz, 55km (35 miles) south-east of al-Qaim, as well as the Saad (H2) airbase and nearby Husseiniyat area, 120km (75 miles) south of al-Qaim.

On Wednesday, Iraqi military planes dropped leaflets over the area telling people to "go to any house on top of which a white flag has been raised when the liberation forces enter al-Qaim".

The US-led multinational coalition providing air and ground support for the offensive said 1,500 IS fighters were estimated to be in the vicinity of al-Qaim.

Al-Qaim, about 315km (195 miles) north-west of Baghdad, Rawa and the nearby Syrian border town of Albu Kamal are of strategic importance to IS as...