As you see in the picture below, the left map released by the Iraqi army dates back to 2014 in which about one-third of Iraq was under ISIS militants’ control.
The right map is of 2017 when most parts have already been retaken from ISIS except for small areas in Nineveh, Anbar and Kirkuk provinces which are still the scene of clashes between the Iraqi army and the ISIS militants.
ISIS militants took large swaths of northern and western Iraq in the summer of 2014. Over the past three years, the militants have been losing ground steadily.
This has increased their acts of violence in revenge for the blows they have been suffering at the hand of Iraqi forces, particularly in the northern city of Mosul.
The Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19.
