‘Fighting near Tal Afar worse than Mosul’

Iraqi forces recapture half of town

Iraqi forces battling to retake the small town of al-’Ayadiya where militants fleeing Tal Afar have entrenched themselves, saying on Tuesday the fighting is “multiple times worse” than the battle for Mosul’s old city.

Hundreds of battle-hardened fighters were positioned inside most houses and high buildings inside the town, making it difficult for government forces to make any progress, army officers told Reuters.

Iraqi government troops captured the town of Mosul from Islamic State in June, but only after eight months of grinding urban warfare.

But one Iraqi officer, Colonel Kareem al-Lami, described breaching the militants’ first line of defense in al-’Ayadiya as like opening “the gates of hell”.

Iraqi forces have in recent days recaptured almost all of the northwestern city of Tal Afar, long a stronghold of Islamic State. They have been waiting to take al’Ayadiya, just 11 kms (7 miles) northwest of the city, before declaring complete victory.

Tough resistance from the militants in al-’Ayadiya has forced the Iraqi forces to increase the number of air strikes, as well as bring in reinforcements from the federal police to boost units from the army, air force, Federal Police, the elite US-trained Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) and some units from the Shi’ite Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).

Up to 2,000 battle-hardened militants were believed to be defending Tal Afar against around 50,000 government troops last week.

Military intelligence indicated that many militants fled Tal Afar to mount a staunch defense in al’Ayadiya. Many motorcycles carrying the Islamic State insignia were seen abandoned at the side of the road outside al-’Ayadiya.

Though the exact numbers of militants on the ground in al-’Ayadiya was still unclear, al-Lami, the Iraqi Army colonel, estimated they were in their “hundreds.”

“DAESH (Islamic State) fighters in their hundreds are taking positions inside almost every single house in the town,” he said.

Sniper shots, mortars, heavy machine guns and anti-armored projectiles were fired from every single house, he added.

“We thought the battle for Mosul’s Old City was tough, but this one proved to be multiple times worst,” al-Lami said. “We are facing tough fighters who have nothing to lose and are ready to die.”

Iraqi forces have recaptured half of the last town held by the Islamic State group in northern Niniveh province as fierce clashes rage against jihadist fighters, the military said Wednesday.

General Abdelamir Yarallah, head of military operations in the region, said federal police and special units had hoisted the Iraqi flag after having “liberated” the eastern sector of Al-Ayadieh town and the nearby village of Qubuq.

The army and Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary forces have been tasked with the recapture of western Al-Ayadieh, where fighting has been fierce and the jihadists are putting up “fierce resistance”, said Hashed spokesman Ahmed alAssadi.

Last Sunday, troops, police and special forces, allied with the Hashed coalition, seized full control of the city of Tal Afar, near the Syrian border, with IS fighters taking refuge in Al-Ayadieh, 15 kms (10 miles) to the north.

Around “150 to 200 IS fighters moved with their families up to AlAyadieh”, according to Brigadier General Andrew A. Croft, deputy commander of the US-led coalition air units supporting the Iraqi advance in northern Iraq.

After its ouster in July from Nineveh’s provincial capital of Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, IS now controls only the city of Hawija, 300 kms north of Baghdad, and desert areas along the border with war-torn Syria.