Iraq forces make progress in Tal Afar battle against IS rebels
BAGHDAD/ERBIL: Government forces breached the city limits of Tal Afar in northwestern Iraq on Tuesday on the third day of a U.S.-backed offensive to seize it back from IS militants.
Tal Afar, a longtime IS stronghold, is the latest objective in the war following the recapture of Mosul after a nine-month campaign that left much of that city in ruins.
U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, speaking just before arriving in Iraq on Tuesday, said the fight against IS was far from over despite recent successes by the Western-backed government. The extremists remain in control of territory in western Iraq and eastern Syria.
On Tuesday, however, army and counter-terrorism units broke into Tal Afar from the eastern and southern sides, the Iraqi joint operations command said.
The U.S. special envoy to the international coalition, Brett McGurk, said Iraqi forces had retaken 235 square km (90 miles) in the first 24 hours of the offensive. Security forces said villages, strategic roads and tunnel networks had also been seized.
The main forces involved are the Iraqi army, air force, Federal Police, the U.S.-trained Counter Terrorism Service (CTS), as well as units from the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), who began encircling the city on Sunday.
Located 80 km (50 miles) west of Mosul, Tal Afar is strategic as it lies along the supply route between Mosul and Syria. It has produced some of IS’ most senior commanders and was cut off from the rest of IS-held territory in June.
Up to 2,000 battle-hardened militants remain in Tal Afar, according to U.S. and Iraqi military commanders.
Days numbered
“ISIS’ (IS) days are certainly numbered, but it is not over yet and it is not going to be over anytime soon,” Mattis told reporters in Amman.
As was the case with the battle for Mosul, aid organisations groups are concerned about the plight of civilians in Tal Afar.
U.S. Brigadier General Andrew Croft, chief of coalition air operations over Iraq, said between 10,000 and 20,000 civilians remained in Tal Afar.