isolated from the rest of ISIL's territory in July 2016 during the Battle of Mosul, when Al-Shirqat was captured by Iraqi troops. Hawija was ISIL's last enclave in central Iraq. On September 21, 2017, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced an offensive to reclaim the city after over three years of ISIS rule. The city was liberated from ISIS by October 4, 2017. In October 2022, Khadija Ahmad Murshid, also known as "Umm Rayyan", was chosen as the Mukhtar of the Al-Hurriyya neighborhood in Hawija, making her the first woman recorded to hold the position of Mukhtar in the Kirkuk Province. References Populated places in Kirkuk Governorate Cities in Iraq