Iraqi forces poised for victory over Islamic State in Tal Afar
City was major hub of jihadi movement within ‘caliphate’
TAL AFAR: Iraqi forces backed by local militia and a US-led coalition were poised on Sunday to drive the Islamic State group from the city of Tal Afar, dealing another blow to the jihadists.
Just a week after authorities announced an offensive to push the jihadists from one of their last major urban strongholds in Iraq, the Joint Operations Command said Iraqi forces held all 29 districts of the city and were pursuing final clearing operations.
Pro-government fighters could already be seen celebrating, flashing victory signs as their tanks rolled through the streets, waving Iraqi flags and taking down black IS banners from buildings and lamp posts.
The offensive comes just weeks after Iraqi forces retook Mosul from IS, in their biggest victory since the jihadists seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq in mid-2014.
Much of that territory has since been retaken with support from coalition air strikes and IS is also facing a major US-backed offensive against its de facto Syrian capital Raqqa.
The loss of Tal Afar, in northern Iraq between Mosul and the Syrian border, will deprive IS of what was once a significant hub for movement between the Syrian and Iraqi components of the self-styled “caliphate” it declared three years ago.
On Saturday, Iraqi forces reached Tal Afar’s Ottoman-era citadel and took control of the city centre.
Government troops and units of the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary coalition had launched the assault last Sunday after weeks of coalition and Iraqi air strikes.
Progress in Tal Afar has been far more rapid than in Mosul, which fell to Iraqi forces after a gruelling nine-month battle.
Officials have said they hope to announce victory by Eid al-Adha, the Muslim holiday set to start in Iraq on September 2.
The next target in the area was the town of Al-Ayadieh 15 km north of Tal Afar and strategically located on the road between the city and the Syrian border.