Iraqi security services say they now control ninety five percent of the city of Tal Afar. The city, close to the Syrian border, has been under ISIL control for 3 years. But since an Iraqi army offensive that started a week ago, advancing troops have faced far less resistance than expected. The remaining ISIL troops are surrounded in the North of the city, and CGTN's Tony Cheng advanced with the 16th division of the Iraqi army in an attempt to cut them off.

A water tower, damaged in days of fighting, teeters on the edge of collapse. On its side, the flag of the so-called Islamic State. And after the air bombardment, ground troops from the 16th division of the Iraqi army marching into the village of Abu Mariya to meet an opponent who appeared to have fled.

Drones controlled by army intelligence were co-ordinating the advance. Huddled in the back of a new MRAP vehicle, new weaponry supplied to Iraq by the United States. Inside the base, the commanders were plotting their attack.

LT. GENERAL ABDUL JABBAR COMMANDER OF IRAQI ARMY'S 16TH RECON DIVISION "Today we have advanced very quickly because ISIL has been completely destroyed and our heroes who have protected us from their car bombs and broken through their defences."

Inside the city of Tal Afar, special forces, counter terrorism and militia units have had similar success. By dividing the city into quarters, they have forced the remaining ISIL fighters up to the North into the arms of the waiting army.

The main body of the 16th Division begins its advance. Rejuvenated by their victory in Mosul, they have new momentum. And despite fears that the battle for Tal Afar could last months, they are on the brink of victory in just a week.

They stop at the new frontline on the edge of the village. But then a loud explosion at the rear of the column. Angry commands from the General for the men to mount up, a favorite tactic of ISIL is to let their opponent advance then attack from the back.

But the counter attack never comes. The explosion is a huge car bomb, but no one was injured. ISIL appears to have fled. One suspected fighter is interrogated by intelligence officers. He claims to have been forced to move to the area by ISIL, but his story is easily picked apart. Nonetheless, the old man doesn't look like the fanatical extremists that put up such fierce resistance in Mosul. Women and children wait to be evacuated out of the conflict zone.

TARFA HASSAN ABU MARIYA RESIDENT "The army has been fighting so much today and yesterday. It was very heavy fighting, it was like hell. They didn't stop all night."

On the frontline, sentries scan the horizon. ISIL has proved itself to be a formidable foe and no-one is celebrating victory just yet. Tony Cheng CGTN Tal Afar Iraq.