ISIS imposes curfew in Tal Afar
Tal Afar (IraqiNews.com) Curfew was imposed in Tal Afar town, west of Mosul, as huge sound of explosion was heard on Wednesday, a local source from Nineveh was quoted saying.
“Huge explosion sound was heard on Wednesday evening in Tal Afar, and was followed by heaving shooting,” the source told AlSumaria News.
“Islamic State militants imposed curfew,” speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said, adding that “the reason behind the explosion was unknown, which urged the group to impose the curfew.”
The group has been on high alert as the group’s head of training camps was killed in an airstrike in the town earlier on Wednesday.
Tal Afar is one of the important strongholds still held by IS in Nineveh since August 2014. The town has been set as the next target of operations after victory was declared in Mosul on July 10.
Iraqi Defense Ministry said last week that a date has been set for the invasion of the town, however, it will not be declared to maintain the secrecy of the intended operations.
During a weekly press briefing on Tuesday, Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said a special plan has been drawn to invade Tal Afar.
Kurds deport refugees by force
Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Kurdish security authorities are forcibly deporting Iraqi refugees to home regions where they fear vengeful actions from pro-government militias, a news network says.
Quoting Arab tribal sources, Saudi-owned al-Arabiya network said Kurdish security in the Iraqi province of Kirkuk are obliging Iraqi refugees to their home regions in Salahuddin province which had been recaptured from Islamic State militants.
It said, however, that the refugees are averse to returning home fearing what the channel described as “vengeful” action s from the Popular Mobilization Forces, the pro-government alliance of Shia-led militias that had fought the Islamic State.
Iraq’s war against IS since 2014 has displaced more than four million people, according to United Nations and government counts. All parties to the war have faced criticisms from U.N. and human rights groups for alleged human rights violations, including mobilization forces, which have occasionally been accused of breaches against Sunni civilians at recaptured areas, especially those suspected of affiliation with IS militants.
But Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had recurrently defended the force against accusations.
U.N., local and international human rights groups have recurrently urged Baghdad to give refugees the freedom of choice between staying at their shelter destinations and returning to their home towns.
ISIS moll dies in house collapse
Tal Afar (IraqiNews.com) A notorious mother of three Islamic State militants died Thursday when her house partially collapsed west of Nineveh, a local source was quoted saying.
Alsumaria News quoted the source saying that “Um Daesh” (mother of the Islamic State) died under a collapsing wall at a house in Tal Afar, the last major Islamic State stronghold in Nineveh.
“She was in her sixties and had always bragged about her affiliation with the group and used to threaten locals with her three sons who were behind several executions of innocents over the past years,” said the source.
The Iraqi government has recently set Tal Afar as the next target of operations against the Islamic State. So far, the town has been isolated from the Syrian borders and from Mosul by the pro-government Popular Mobilization.
The Iraqi government declared last month its victory over IS militants in Mosul, the group’s former capital in Iraq. Islamic State lost more than 25.000 members in more than eight months of military campaigns that began in October.
Besides Tal Afar, Islamic State still holds a few havens in Anbar, Salahuddin, and Kirkuk, all targets for future military actions.