Iraqi PM declares victory over IS in Tal Afar

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Iraqi Prime Minister Hayder al-Abadi declared victory over Islamic State militants in Tal Afar and the entire province of Nineveh, despite continued fighting in the small town of al-Ayadiya.

Tal Afar had become the next target of the US-backed war on the militant group following the capture of Mosul, where it had declared its “caliphate” over parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.

“Tal Afar has been liberated,” Abadi said in a statement on Thursday.

“We say to the Islamic State fighters: wherever you are, we are coming for you, and you have no choice but to surrender or die.”

The defeat in Mosul, Nineveh’s provincial capital, marked the latest in a string of territorial losses for the group.

However, the militants still control areas on both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi border.

This includes Hawija, a city between Mosul and Baghdad that Iraqi officials have said will be the coalition’s next target.

The Iraqi army dropped millions of leaflets over Hawija, warning residents it was preparing an offensive to recapture the city from Islamic State, the military said in a statement.

The leaflets urged residents to stay away from militants’ headquarters, to drop weapons and turn themselves in to avoid being killed.

Iraqi forces had been waiting to clear al-Ayadiya before declaring complete victory in the offensive.

IS militants had retreated to the town.

Divisions from the Iraqi army and federal police, backed by units from Syiah paramilitaries, retook al-Ayadiya on Thursday, military officers said, after several days of unexpectedly fierce fighting.

However, pockets of resistance remained and Iraqi forces were still working to clear the remaining militants from the town.

“We have to make sure that no more terrorists remain hiding inside the town’s houses,” Army Lieutenant Colonel Salah Kareem said. — Reuters