Command: police, mobilization forces missions accomplished in Tal Afar
Iraqi police forces in Mosul (Reuters)
Tal Afar (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi police and paramilitary forces have ended their missions in the offensive against Islamic State militants in Tal Afar, the Iraqi military command said Saturday as operations reach the town’s center, with collapses reported in the militants’ defense lines.
The Joint Operations Command’s head of operations, Abdul-Amir Yarallah, said Federal Police and Popular Mobilization Forces completed their missions by retaking al-Rabia’ and Qadisiya districts. This raises the total of recaptured areas to 16 out of 28, he explained.
“Only a few neighborhoods remain under Islamic State’s control,” he stated.
The government declared the launch of Tal Afar operations on August 20th. Iraqi military commanders have reported daily advances and retaking of IS-held territory since Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered the launch of offensives on Sunday.
Past operations by the Popular Mobilization Forces, the paramilitary troops backing government forces, had managed, until the end of June, to isolate Tal Afar from the Syrian borders and from the rest of Nineveh.
The United Nations says more than 30.000 were displaced as operations launched for the enclave.
After Tal Afar, the militants’ last holdout in Nineveh, the Iraqi government eyes the liberation of the few remaining havens in Kirkuk, Anbar and Salahuddin.