Al-Hashd al-Shaabi recapture two villages near Tal Afar

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Al-Hashd al-Shaabi militias said Monday they they recaptured two villages near the strategic town of Tal Afar as operations continue to free it from Islamic State militants.

The militia’s media service said the forces liberated the villages of al-Salam and Southern Torkomaniya south of Tal Afar after dealing ISIS losses in life and equipment.

The advancements come as part of the militia’s fifth phase of operations seeking to enter the center.of Tal Afar. So far, al-Hashd al-Shaabi regularly declare the liberation of villages surrounding the town. It recently celebrated the takeover of Tal Afar’s military airport, a major step that it says denied ISIS a vital supply route between Iraq and Syria.

Al-Hashd’s involvement in battles for Tal Afar has been controversial since the launch of operations to retake Mosul in October. Tal Afar has been a concern for Turkey which had said it feared that the Shia-led militia could carry out retaliatory measures against Sunni Turkmen residents of the town, a notion dismissed by a-Hashd. Turkey had called in the government in Baghdad to limit the role if al-Hashd to besieging the region.

But an Iraqi parliament highly divisive vote on Saturday to incorporate al-Hashd al-Shaabi in the country’s national armed forces could represent an impetus to the militia’s quest to get deeper in the town.