Another front is opening up in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced on Sept. 21 the start of the military operation to retake Hawija from the Islamic State, one of the last major districts controlled by the militant group in Iraq. The Iraqi Federal Police, Iraqi special operations forces, the Ninth Division of the Iraqi army, seven brigades of the Shiite-led Popular Mobilization Units and two brigades of fighters from the Sunni tribes are all involved in the Hawija offensive. Notably, Kurdish peshmerga are not participating directly, but they will take a secondary role holding defensive lines....
