Baghdad, Oct 5 (IANS): Iraqi forces have recaptured the region of Hawija, one of the Islamic State (IS) terror group's last strongholds in the country, authorities announced on Thursday.

Troops, police and paramilitaries engaged in the Iraqi offensive against the IS "liberated the whole of the centre of Hawija and are continuing their advance", the BBC quoted a senior military official as saying.

State television said the Army had fully recaptured Hawija.

On Wednesday, the Iraqi forces said they had killed 196 IS militants and recaptured 98 villages.

The region, where tens of thousands of civilians live, has been under the militant group's control since 2014.

The recapture leaves just one area of Iraq under the group's control; a stretch of land along the western border with Syria, according to military officials.

The Iraqi Army has been engaged in a sustained offensive against the self-styled Caliphate this year, recapturing the country's second largest city Mosul in July after a nine-month battle.