Iraqi forces are bearing down on al-Qaim, one of the few remaining Islamic State-controlled areas in the country.

In 2014, ISIS forces overran Iraqi forces and declared the "caliphate" of the Islamic State.

With US and international help, Iraqi's have slowly but surely reclaimed their country from the terror group.

Iraqi security forces near the provincial council building in central Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, in 2015. AP Photo/Osama Sami IRBIL, Iraq — Iraqi forces have entered al-Qaim, one of the few remaining territories in the country still held by Islamic State militants, the Joint Operations Command said on Friday.

Units from the Iraqi army, the Counter-Terrorism Services, Sunni tribal, and Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization forces are participating in an offensive to recapture al-Qaim and Rawa, two towns on the border area with Syria.

Welcoming the offensive, the US-led international military coalition, which has run an air campaign against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, in both Syria and Iraq since 2014, said in a statement that approximately 1,500 Islamic State fighters were estimated to remain in the immediate vicinity of al-Qaim.

Operations to clear the militants from their final strongholds in Iraq have continued, despite a concurrent military advance on Kurdish-held territory in the north.

Iraq's central government launched an offensive on October 16 to seize disputed territories, claimed by both Baghdad and the Kurds, in retaliation for a referendum on Kurdish independence held on September 25.

In a lightning strike, central government forces swiftly recaptured large areas, including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, from the Kurds, who had seized these areas when Islamic State swept across northern Iraq in 2014.

On Thursday, Iraqi forces threatened to resume military operations against the Kurds, accusing them of delaying the handover of control of borders and taking advantage of negotiations to bolster their defenses.