Al-Hashd al-Shaabi defuse booby-trap combing Mosul’s Tal Abta
Al-Hashd al-Shaabi fighters.
The militia is preparing to liberate other areas surrounding the strategic town, its spokesperson, Ahmed al-Assadi stated Friday.
On Thursday, Al-Hashd sl-Shaabi completed the liberation of Tal Abta, the only remaining area to consummate a siege on the town of Tal Afar, a major ISIS stronghold and a vital spot on the group’s supply lines from Syria.
The militia’s media service said the victory came after intense fights with the extremist group that left a number of militants dead.
Al-Hashd al-Shaabi, which turned via a parliament vote last month from a voluntary popular militia to an Iraqi national force, has been actively fighting against ISIS by the side of the Iraqi government forces. The militia has been mostly active in the southwestern areas of Mosul since operations to retake the city launched in mid October. Government forces, meanwhile, are still struggling to liberate the eastern section of the city and have said they had become in control over at least 50 percent of that region.