Badr say foiled ISIS attack near Tal Afar airport

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Badr Organization said Sunday its fighters held off an attack by Islamic State militants near the strategic Tal Afar airport in Mosul.

The militia, fighting under the flag of the broader al-Hashd al-Shaabi, said in a statement that a brigade from the militia “fought off an attack by ISIS on the village of Ein al-Hossan near Tal Afar airport,” adding that the forces seized 8 Hummer vehicles, a bulldozer and belonging to the extremist group, and detonated a booby-trapped car.

Al-Hashd al-Shaabi recaptured the strategic airport of Tal Afar last month, celebrating the takeover as a major step towards besieging the ISIS stronghold town, encircling the militants inside Iraq and cutting their supply and escape routes with Syria.

Iraqi government forces, backed by volunteer militias and US-led international troops have been on a wide-scale campaign to clear Mosul from Islamic State militants since mid October. Government and militia commanders have said that operations succeeded in largely isolating Nineveh from the rest of Iraqi provinces.