Iraqi forces yesterday were on the verge of fully recapturing the city of Tal Afar after driving Islamic State (IS) group militants from the center of one of their last urban strongholds in the country.
Counterterrorism units have taken control of the center of the city, which includes its historic Ottoman citadel.
“They raised the Iraqi flag on the citadel,” General Abdulamir Yarallah, commander of military operations in the battle for Tal Afar, said in a statement.
The advance, less than a week into an assault on the city, comes after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi last month declared victory over the militants in Mosul, where IS declared its “caliphate” in 2014.
Iraqi forces now hold “94 percent of the city, 27 out of 29” districts including the center and citadel, said the Joint Operations Command (JOC), which coordinates the anti-IS operation in Iraq.
The announcement came as the French foreign and defense ministers visited Baghdad to announce a loan of 430 million euros (US$513 million) before the end of the year to help the Iraqi economy in the face of low oil prices and the cost of battling the militants.
On Saturday, units also battled IS around Al-Ayadieh 15km north of Tal Afar and strategically located on the road between the city and the Syrian border, Yarallah said.
In the entire Tal Afar region, “1,155km2 of 1,655km2, or 70 percent of the area, have been taken” the JOC said.
Columns of smoke could be seen rising over the city after the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary coalition fighting alongside government troops seized the Al-Khadra and Al-Jazeera districts.
Abbas Radhi, a Hashed al-Shaabi fighter, said IS had resisted the advance mostly with sniper fire.
Government troops and units of the Hashed al-Shaabi, backed by a US-led coalition against IS, launched the assault on Sunday last week after weeks of coalition and Iraqi air strikes.
Tal Afar sits on a strategic route between IS-controlled territories in Syria and Mosul, 70km further east.
Progress in Tal Afar has been far more rapid than in Mosul, which fell to Iraqi forces only after a grueling nine-month battle.
Officials have said they hope to announce victory by Eid al-Adha, the Muslim holiday set to start in Iraq on Saturday.
The capture of the city would make it even more difficult for the militants to transport fighters and weapons between Iraq and Syria, officials have said.
IS still retains territory in Iraq and neighboring Syria, where a US-backed Kurdish-Arab coalition is fighting to drive the group from its “de facto” Syrian capital Raqa.
Once Tal Afar is retaken, Baghdad is expected to launch an offensive on Hawija, 300km north of Baghdad.
IS is also present in the vast western province of Anbar, where it controls several zones along the border with Syria, including the Al-Qaim area.
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