Iraqi forces poised for Tal Afar victory over Islamic State
IRAQI forces backed by local militia and a US-led coalition were poised yesterday to drive Islamic State 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 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.
The offensive comes just weeks after Iraqi forces retook second city 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 Raqa.
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 launched the assault last Sunday after weeks of coalition and Iraqi air strikes.
Progress in Tal Afar has been more rapid than in Mosul, which fell to Iraqi forces only 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 kilometres north of Tal Afar and strategically located on the road between the city and the Syrian border.
In the whole Tal Afar region, “1,155 square kilometres of 1,655 square kilometres, or 70 percent of the area, have been taken” the JOC said late on Saturday.
Pro-government forces faced an obstacle course of roads blocked with earth embankments and strategically parked trucks, as well as sniper fire and mortar shelling during the battle for Tal Afar.
Troops also said they discovered a network of underground tunnels used by IS to launch attacks behind lines of already conquered territory, or to escape.
Officials have said the capture of the city would make it even more difficult for the jihadists to transport fighters and weapons between Iraq and Syria.