|
More Mosul Moslem Mayhem
 50 ISIS Turbans die fighting Iraqi kops Tal Afar (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Federal Police service said Thursday its troops killed 50 Islamic State members during operations to recapture one district in the town of Tal Afar, the group’s last bastion in Nineveh province. The service’s chief, Lt. Gen. Shaker Jawdat, said the militants were killed while the forces cleared the Kefah al-Shamali (northern) district west of Tal Afar. He said five booby-trapped vehicles and 40 explosive devices belonging to the group were also destroyed in the operations. Other weaponry were also seized, he added. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared early Sunday the launch of operations to recapture the enclave where military commanders believe up to 2000 fighters are deployed. Over the past few days, Iraqi field commanders reported progress on the ground, saying government and paramilitary troops had reached the center of the town. Military media said Wednesday that forces told militants through loudspeakers to either surrender or face death. The United Nations says 40.000 civilians had fled the town while 30.000 are believed to be stranded inside. The Iraqi government plans to wage further offensives at other IS holdouts in Anbar, Kirkuk and Salahuddin once it is done with the recapture of Tal Afar, which commanders predict to be achieved soon. Iraqi troops continue advance in Tal Afar Tal Afar (IraqiNews.com) Several districts have been liberated as Iraqi joint troops resumed their advance in Tal Afar, the last Islamic State’s biggest enclave in Nineveh. Joint troops of army and pro-government al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) liberated al-Nour al-Oula district, Lt.Gen. Abdul Amir Yarallah, commander of Tal Afar Operations, said in a statement by the War Media Cell on Thursday. Another statement by the media service of the PMUs said, “joint troops liberated on Thursday al-Khadraa district in east of Tal Afar following clashes that lasted for two days.” The troops also indicated “removing explosives and landmines planted by IS to hinder the troops advance.” Moreover, joint forces freed al-Jazeera region in east of the town. “Paramilitary troops are 250 kilometers away from the center of the town,” the statement added. Several regions and villages were freed in Tal Afar since operations started earlier this week after Iraqi PM Haidar al-Abadi announced on Sunday in a televised speech the beginning of offensive to recapture Tal Afar, which has been held by the militants since 2014, when the extremist group first emerged to proclaim its self-styled ‘caliphate’. This came after 40 days of declaring victory in Mosul, the group’s former capital, where operations lasted between October to July. More than 1400 Islamic State militants with Arab and foreign nationalities are estimated to be in the town, according to military commanders. Iraqi forces eject ISIS from 5 villages Iraqi forces made further gains in their offensive to dislodge ISIS from Tal Afar, seizing five more villages on the eastern and southern outskirts of the city, the military said on Thursday. In the fifth day of their onslaught, Iraqi forces continued to encircle militants holding out in the city in far northwestern Iraq close to the Syrian border, according to statements from the Iraqi joint operations command. Within the city limits, Iraqi forces captured three more neighborhoods – al-Nour and al-Mo’allameen in the east and al-Wahda in the west, taking over several strategic buildings in the process. The advances were the latest in the campaign to rout the militants from one of their last remaining strongholds in Iraq, three years after they seized wide swathes of the north and west in a shock offensive. On Tuesday, the army and counter-terrorism units broke into Tal Afar from the east and south. The main forces taking part in the offensive are the Iraqi army, air force, Federal Police, the elite US-trained Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) and some units from the Shi’ite Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) that began encircling the city on Sunday. About three quarters of Tal Afar remains under militant control including the Ottoman-era citadel at its center, according to an operational map published by the Iraqi military. Located 80 km (50 miles) west of Mosul, Tal Afar lies along the supply route between that city – which Iraqi forces retook from IS in July after nine months of fighting – and Syria. Tal Afar has produced some of IS’s most senior commanders and was cut off from the rest of ISIS-held territory in June. Up to 2,000 battle-hardened militants remain in Tal Afar, according to US and Iraqi military commanders. Between 10,000 and 40,000 civilians are estimated to remain in the city and its surrounding villages. Source: Reuters Posted by: badanov 2017-08-25 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=495760 |