Iraqi Forces Liberate More Tal Afar Neighborhoods, Penetrate ISIS’s Defenses

Lt. Gen Abdul-Amir Yarallah, head of the Joint Operations Command’s field taskforce, said government forces recaptured 12 out of 28 neighborhoods of Tal Afar. He said Federal Police and PMU took over the Tal Afar electricity storage facility besides al-Taleea, around the Ottoman-era citadel, and al-Nasr neighborhoods breaking through ISIS defenses.
 
Yarallah added that forces also took control of al-Nedaa, Khadraa and Muhalabiya regions, and became on the outskirts of al-Qalaa district. They also recaptured a so-called “Kheder Elias” shrine.
 
Federal Police Chief Shaker Jawdat said his forces retook Saad district, northwest of Tal Afar, and prepared to invade al-Qadisiya, another neighborhood.
 
A predominantly Turkmen district, Tal Afar was overrun by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant fighters in 2014. An operation to retake the city began on Sunday.
 
Tal Afar is the main remaining ISIS stronghold in northern Iraq, after the capture by Iraqi forces in July of second city Mosul further east in a major blow to the Takfiri insurgents.
 
In a televised speech early Sunday, Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, dressed in military uniform and standing in front of an Iraqi flag and map of the country, announced “the start of an operation to free Tal Afar”.
 
“I am saying to ISIS that there’s no choice other than to leave or be killed,” he said.
 
“We have won all our battles, and ISIS have always lost,” he said, telling his troops: “The entire world is with you.”