Major Battlefronts against IS in Iraq and Syria

The Islamic State group has lost swathes of territory in its self-declared "caliphate" in recent months, including its former Iraqi hub Mosul and most of its Syrian bastion Raqa.

Now it is under attack in both of its remaining enclaves in Iraq and is facing parallel Russian- and US-backed offensives in Syria. Here are the main battlefronts:

- IRAQ -HAWIJA: Security forces and paramilitary units launched a major offensive on Thursday on IS-held territory around the town of Hawija, one of just two remaining jihadist pockets in Iraq.

The enclave, which was bypassed by government forces in their drive north to second city Mosul last year, lies to the west of the ethnically divided Kurdish-held city of Kirkuk and includes several other mainly Sunni Arab towns.

Preparations for the operation had been overshadowed by a bitter dispute between Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdish leaders over their plans to hold an independence referendum on Monday in areas including Kirkuk.

Hawija has been a bastion of insurgency since the early months after the US-led invasion of 2003 and earned the nickname of "Kandahar in Iraq" from coalition troops for the ferocious resistance it put up similar to that in the Taliban militia's bastion in Afghanistan.

EUPHRATES VALLEY: IS controls one other pocket of territory in Iraq, a section of the Euphrates Valley downstream from the Syrian border, including the towns of Al-Qaim, Rawa and Anna.

On Tuesday, Iraqi forces backed by paramilitary units and coalition warplanes launched a push up the valley, attacking Anna and recapturing several villages.

After retaking Anna, Iraqi forces are expected to target Rawa and finally Al-Qaim, which is close to the Syrian border and IS-held territory beyond. 

- SYRIA -RAQA: Raqa was once the de facto Syrian capital of IS's self-declared caliphate.

But the group has now lost 90 percent of the city to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Wednesday.

The US coalition supporting the SDF estimated that 65-70 percent of Raqa is now under the control of the alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters.

The SDF worked for months to encircle the city, which had become a byword for the worst of IS's atrocities during its years under jihadist rule.

In June, the SDF broke into the city for the first time. The battle initially moved quickly, but slowed when the SDF reached the more densely populated city centre.

Its advance has been assisted by heavy US-led air strikes that have reportedly killed hundreds of civilians.

Estimates of the number of civilians still in the city range from fewer than 10,000 to as many as 25,000.

DEIR EZZOR: IS's other main stronghold in Syria is the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, which borders IS-held territory in Iraq.

Two separate offensives are under way against the jihadists in the area -- one by the US-backed SDF, the other by government forces supported by Russia.

Regime troops advanced across the desert from the west to relieve two besieged garrisons in the city of Deir Ezzor, down the Euphrates Valley from Raqa.

The army now controls around 70 percent of the city and is battling to oust IS from the remainder, according to the Observatory.

The SDF advanced from the north to attack IS on the east bank of the Euphrates, capturing more than 500 square kilometres (190 square miles) of territory, according to the US-led coalition.

On Monday, government forces crossed to the east bank of the river, where commanders said they came under fire from the SDF.

Moscow said the US-backed force was impeding the battle against IS, a charge dismissed by Washington.

OTHER POCKETS: IS also holds pockets of territory elsewhere, notably in eastern parts of the central provinces of Homs and Hama, where it is the target of another Russian-backed offensive by government forces.

The jihadists are present in smaller numbers in the Yarmuk camp in south Damascus and a group allied with IS has a scattered presence in southern parts of Syria.