Iraqi forces recapture 12 villages from ISIL near Tal Afar

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Iraqi security forces battling ISIL militants freed 12 villages on Sunday, in the first day of a new offensive launched to retake control of the northern town Tal Afar and surrounding areas from ISIL militants, the Iraqi military said.

The security forces and the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units continued their advance during the day from several directions in the rural areas around the ISIL-held town of Tal Afar, some 70 km west of the newly-freed Mosul, Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarallah from the Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement.

The troops, backed by Iraqi and international aircraft, liberated a total of 12 villages around Tal Afar, in addition to capturing the southern part of Zambar mountain range in east of the town.

The troops also captured the road between the town of Tal Afar and the Mahalabiyah district, cutting off the supply route between the two ISIL-held town and district, the statement added.

Iraqi government forces supported by fighters from the Abbas Brigade advance towards the city of Tal Afar, the main remaining stronghold of the ISIL group on August 20, 2017. /AFP Photo

The troops and the helicopter gunships carried out 14 airstrikes and killed a total of 16 ISIL militants and destroyed two booby-trapped motorcycles and an ammunition cache at the edges of Tal Afar, according to Yarallah.

'Very tough' in Tal Afar

Earlier in the day, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the start of an operation to retake control of the northern town Tal Afar and nearby areas from ISIL militants.

"We announce the launch of an operation to liberate Tal Afar. I say to Daesh (ISIL militants) – either you surrender or die," Abadi said in a televised speech.

The targeted area of Tal Afar is about 3,206 square kms, which consists of the town of Tal Afar itself and two districts of Ayadhiyah and Mahalabiyah, in addition to about 47 villages scattered in the area, according to information obtained from the official Iraqiya television.

The offensive in Tal Afar area pushed the United Nations to warn that thousands of civilians are expected to flee the town of Tal Afar and surrounding areas.

"Thousands of people are fleeing Tal Afar for safety. Families are trekking for 10 to 20 hours in extreme heat to reach mustering points. They are arriving exhausted and dehydrated," the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, Lise Grande, said in a statement.

Grande described the situation inside Tal Afar as "very tough," because food and water are running out, and people lack the basic necessities to survive, according to the statement by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Fighters gather as they advance towards the city of Tal Afar on August 20, 2017. /AFP Photo

"More than 30,000 people have already fled the district. 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," said Grande.

Tal Afar, some 70 kms west of Mosul, is the last ISIL redoubt in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh. Up to 350,000 to 400,000 people used to live in the town and surrounding areas, including 250,000 people in Tal Afar itself. But most of them left their homes either due to the sectarian strife during the years after 2003, or after the town fell to the ISIL in 2014.

The majority population of Tal Afar area are Sunni and Shiite Turkomans, in addition to the minority of Kurds and other minorities.

The United Nation's International Organization for Migration estimates that some 10,000 to 40,000 people are still living in the town of Tal Afar and surrounding area.

Earlier, the army's Major General Najim al-Jubouri, commander of Nineveh's Operations Command, told reporters that he estimated there were between 1,500 and 2,000 ISIL militants left in Tal Afar.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency