Iraq launches ground attacks on ISIL in Tal Afar
Iraqi ground forces backed by the US yesterday began an offensive to recapture Tal Afar, one of the last areas of the country held by ISIL.
Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi announced the launch of the operation in a televised speech and warned that ISIL fighters had a choice between “surrender or die”.
“We have won all our battles, and ISIL have always lost,” he said, telling the country’s troops that “the entire world is with you”.
By early afternoon, Lt Gen Abdul-Amir Yar Allah, commander of the operation, said the forces had recaptured villages in the east, south-west and north-west of the city.
Tal Afar and the surrounding area is one of the last pockets of ISIL-held territory in Iraq after victory was declared in July in Mosul.
Lt Gen Stephen Townsend, the commander of US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria, welcomed the offensive.
“The operation to liberate Tal Afar is another important fight that must be won to ensure the country and its citizens are finally free of ISIL,” Gen Townsend said.
“The coalition is strong and fully committed to supporting our Iraqi partners until ISIL is
defeated and the Iraqi people are free.”
Forces participating in the battle include all branches of the Iraqi security forces – the 9th, 15th and 16th Iraqi army divisions, the counter-terrorism service, the federal police and the local police.
The Shiite popular mobilisation forces, also known as Hashed Al Shaabi, are involved in the battle in a more prominent role than previously.
Tal Afar has been surrounded by the militias since the start of the battle to retake Mosul and Turkey has long opposed involving them in the liberation of the town because ISIL is likely to inflict terrible reprisals on the Turkmen population, and thus ignite further sectarian divisions.
Ankara, along with some elements in the Iraqi government, has raised the same concerns about the Shiite militias, who have been accused of torture and killings in Sunni-majority cities.
The location of the town is also of strategic interest to ISIL, as it is about 60 kilometres from Mosul and Iraq’s borders with Turkey and Syria.
“Tal Afar is a strategic town, the last town before the Syrian border, and was used as a transit route for ISIL from cities such as Raqqa and Deir Ezzor in Syria to Iraq,” said Mr Mohamed Henedi, a senior analyst at the Delma Institute in Abu Dhabi.
It is crucial to fight ISIL in Iraq because their destruction “will significantly reduce the terrorist group’s ability to regroup in areas in or around Mosul, or to launch attacks across many parts of northern Iraq”, Mr Henedi said.
“As long as ISIL is present in Tal Afar, its ability to transfer men, weapons and supplies to and from Syria is unhindered – and that is important for ISIL should it wish to pose a credible threat to Iraq.”
Tal Afar has been under ISIL control since mid-2014 and the early stages of the operation to retake the city have been un- der way since the start of this month.
ISIL fighters are also still fully in control of the town of Hawija, west of Kirkuk, and the towns of Qaim, Rawa and Ana in western Iraq near the Syrian border.
“The group will put up a fight to maintain a presence in Iraq,” Mr Henedi said.
Victory in the town, where the majority of the population – Shiite and Sunni – are ethnic Turkmen, would mean the loss of one of its most important strongholds for ISIL.
“The city is multi-ethnic, multi-sectarian. We hope that the people of Tal Afar can return to their pre-ISIL life,” said Dr Abbas Kadhim, senior foreign policy fellow at the Wilson Centre, a think tank in Wshington.
Displacement from the town has already begun, with thousands of civilians expected to flee from Tal Afar and surrounding communities during the operation, said Lise Grande, the UN’s humanitarian co-ordinator for Iraq.
About 10,000 to 50,000 civilians remain in and around Tal Afar, while more than 30,000 people have already fled the district.
“Families are trekking for 10 to 20 hours in extreme heat to reach mustering points,” Ms Grande said. “They are arriving exhausted and dehydrated.
“We don’t know how many civilians are still in the areas where fighting is occurring, but we are preparing for thousands more to flee in coming days and weeks.
“Conditions are very tough in the city. Food and water are running out, and people lack the basic necessities to survive.”