Daesh holed up in last Tal Afar stronghold: Iraqi army

Ersin Çelik
09:2931/08/2017, Perşembe
U: 31/08/2017, Perşembe
AA
File photo
File photo

Terrorist group’s presence in northern Iraq now reduced to single district of besieged Tal Afar

Iraqi forces have retaken roughly 60 percent of Tal Afar’s northwestern Al-Ayadieh district from the Daesh terrorist group, according to an Iraqi military source.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on Wednesday, Ezzedine al-Andalusi, an officer in the army’s Joint Operations Command, said that Iraqi forces had also restored the main highway running through the area.

He went on to predict that Tal Afar’s Al-Ayadieh district would be “entirely liberated” by the end of the week.

For the last 10 days, Iraqi forces -- backed by a U.S.-led coalition -- have waged a fierce campaign to wrest Tal Afar from the grip of the terrorist group.

Earlier this week, the Iraqi government announced Tal Afar’s recapture -- with the exception of the Al-Ayadieh district.

In related development, five Iraqi security personnel were killed Wednesday by a suicide car bomb as they advanced towards Daesh-held Al-Ayadieh, Army Captain Sabhan Mohamed told Anadolu Agency.

While no group claimed responsibility for the bombing, Daesh is widely assumed to have been behind the attack.

A predominantly Turkmen district, Tal Afar -- located 60 kilometers east of the Syrian border -- was overrun by the terrorist group in mid-2014, along with vast territories in northern and western Iraq.

#Al-Ayadieh
#Daesh
#suicide attack
#Tal Afar