Civilian cost of Iraq takeover of last ISIL-held towns

Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says his military has retaken Hawija from ISIL. It is the main town in one of the last two Iraqi enclaves still partly held by ISIL fighters, and the last one in the country’s north.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says his military has retaken Hawija from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group.

It is the main town in one of the last two Iraqi enclaves still partly held by ISIL fighters and the last one in the country’s north.

But it has come at a cost for many Iraqi civilians caught in the crossfire.

Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford reports from a checkpoint near Hawija.